Indian authorities have suspended a policeman for firing rounds in the air from a semi-automatic rifle to disperse student protesters in an eastern state over the weekend.

Protests and Police Response

The protests were triggered by the leakage of question papers for a national medical college entrance exam in May, taken by more than 2 million students, and forcing a re-test. Police have been accused of using excessive force at the protests, including beating students with canes and firing tear gas to push back tens of thousands marching to parliament in the capital New Delhi on July 20.

In videos uploaded to social media by students and others, and confirmed by police, a policeman in riot gear can be seen running towards a group of protesters in the eastern city of Siwan in Bihar state on Saturday, pointing a semi-automatic rifle at them and firing at least three shots in the air.

Senior Bihar police official Nilesh Kumar said no one was wounded and that a constable, part of an intelligence unit, had been issued the semi-automatic rifle. “The semi-automatic rifle was used by the constable wrongly. It cannot be justified in any way,” Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, told Reuters on Monday.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.