Youths attack AC coaches after police action
OUR BUREAU AND AGENCIES
Patna, Aug. 18: Dozens of students set fire to four air-conditioned compartments of a superfast train in a Bihar station this morning after police stopped them from occupying reserved seats and used “force” to bundle them out, injuring three.
A senior East Central Railway official confirmed that the bogies of the Shramjeevi Express were completely burnt following the latest instance of unauthorised rail travel in Bihar, a perennial problem for long-distance trains passing through the state.
Passengers have for long complained of locals forcibly occupying AC coaches of trains between Patna and Mughalsarai in the west and Patna to Lakhisarai in the east.
That worry may have eased a bit today after the prompt police action at Ara station that forced the students to get off at the next stop, Bihta, about 35km from Patna, but it triggered the clash and led to the torching of the coaches.
It was not clear immediately if a change of guard at the top had anything to do with the quick police response but passengers, especially travel-loving Bengalis, would surely be hoping it’s the Mamata Banerjee effect.
In Delhi, railway officials said standing instructions, already in place for several years, clearly say that students and other daily passengers cannot board reserved coaches.
Patna railway police chief U.K. Singh said a group of students boarded the air-conditioned compartments of the 2392 New Delhi-Rajgir Shramjeevi Express at Ara and tried to forcibly occupy the reserved seats.
“The students picked up a quarrel with Railway Protection Force personnel when the RPF asked them to get down at Bihta, the next stop after Ara,” Bihar additional director-general of police (headquarters) Neelmani told The Telegraph.
Singh said the security personnel applied “force” when the students failed to show valid tickets. The students, however, claimed the security personnel tried to extort money from them, which led to the scuffle.
Three students, including one identified as Santosh, suffered injuries in the clash, which started around 10, Singh said.
Bruised and angry, the students then rallied support from villages around Bihta station, smashed several windowpanes of the train and torched the AC coaches at Bihta, he said, before the police baton-charged the mob to bring the situation under control.
Two fire engines sent from Patna fought the blaze for more than an hour, but Danapur division public relations officer R.K. Singh said the four AC coaches were gutted.
Four passengers were injured after being hit by stones, sources said.
Railway officials said the clash disrupted traffic for several hours on the Patna-Mughalsarai route and held up many long-distance and passenger trains at stations like Patna Junction, Ara, Bihiya and Buxar.
Authorities later detached the four burnt bogies and the express resumed its journey around 2.55pm.
Neelmani said peace had been restored in and around Bihta and the situation was “well under control”.
The more people say there is change, the more they remain the same.
Bihar and Eastern UP is infamous for its students harassing bona fide railway passengers who travel in reserved compartments.
On two occasions when I was travelling from Delhi to Patna by train with my family, we were made to sit, all cooped up, on our reserved berths with the rest of the berth being occupied by unreserved ticket less passengers..
What has happened above is nothing new. It has been happening in Bihar for the last 60 years. What surprises me is that it is still happening.
With all the certificates being given to him by Amartya Sen and other famous people, I had hoped that this had stopped in Nitish Kumar's Bihar. But I suppose, the Lalu effect remains especially now that he has no work in Delhi.
I had written to Nitish Kumar once that the railways is the external face of Bihar.
The rest of India carries the impression given to them by the rowdy elements who board the reserved compartments.
If, Bihar's image in the eyes of the rest of India is to improve, Nitish should control these rowdies.
It is this image which holds back people from supporting Bihar when certain vitriolic politicians in Maharashtra start barking against Biharis..
No comments:
Post a Comment