Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw appealed to youth not to indulge in violent protests and not damage railway property. His appeal comes in the wake of massive damage to railways in several states during protests over Centre’s newly introduced army recruitment scheme – Agnipath.
Upset with central government’s new recruitment scheme, protesters today burnt trains in Bihar and Telangana. They also vandalised railway stations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana.
In Bihar, train coaches were torched by protesters at Islampur railway station in Nalanda and Danapur railway station in Patna. In Patna, the army aspirants burnt trains and threw cycles, benches, bikes, and stalls on railway tracks. Patna DM Dr. Chandrashekhar Singh said that around 1500 protesters had gathered there and vandalized property at the Danapur station.
Coaches were also set on fire at Telangana’s Secunderabad railway station. AK Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager at Secunderabad railway station, said that the protestors set fire to 4-5 train engines and 2-3 coaches. “We will analyse the extent of the damage. Information of one person being injured. Train services temporarily halted for safety of passengers,” he said while speaking to reporters.
Due to violent protests and blockade of tracks by Agnipath protesters, the Indian Railways has cancelled and partially terminated hundreds of trains across the country. According to reports, some 200 train services have been affected. The East Central Railway informed nine trains were cancelled and nine trains were short terminated in Bengal.
Among the trains that have been cancelled are: 12303 Howrah – New Delhi Poorva Express, 12353 Howrah – Lalkuan Express, 22387 Howrah – Dhanbad Black Diamond Express, 118182 Danapur-Tata Express, 8622 Ranchi-Patna Patliputra Express, 13512 Asansol-Tata Express, 13032 Jaynagar-Howrah Express and 13409 Malda Town – Kiul Express. Two ECR have also been cancelled – Malda Town – Lokmanya Tilak (T) Express (12335) and Howrah – New Delhi Duronto Express (12273).
