Patna, Jun 18 (IANS): After the large-scale violence witnessed in Bihar for the last four days in connection with the statewide protests against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme for short-term recruitment into the armed forces, ADGP (law and order) Sanjay Singh said on Saturday that the police have registered 138 FIRs against the agitators while 716 persons involved in the arson have been arrested so far.

On Saturday, violence erupted in Patna's suburban town of Masaudhi and neighbouring Jahanabad district, leading to the arrest 61 and 50 agitators from the two places, respectively.

"We arrested 140 persons on Saturday from across the state, including 61 from Masaudhi and 50 from Jahanabad," Singh said.

"There were 30 police personnel deployed in Masaudhi where more than 400 youth arrived and started pelting stones on the police party. The police initially tried to disperse them, but as they were present in large numbers, they managed to create a ruckus in the area and even set some vehicles on fire. The situation was brought under control only after the SSP and the DM went there with a large force," Singh said.

"Some anti-social elements are mixing with the student groups and creating problems. The officials of the Special Branch and Intelligence Bureau are on the job to identify them," Singh said.

Compared to the violence witnessed on Thursday and Friday, the state police managed to control the situation to a large extent during 'Bihar Bandh' on Saturday.

"We have appealed to the people of Bihar to not pay heed to rumours and stay calm," Singh said.