The ‘Agneepath’ movement spread and spread in the South and East on the third day after the announcement of the new military recruitment scheme by the Centre. Telangana’s Secunderabad on Friday became the epicenter of mob violence, where one person was killed and over 15 injured in police firing. A furious mob torched a parcel coach of a passenger train, pelted stones at its coaches and threw petrol bombs inside at the city’s railway station.
A total of 12 trains have been torched since June 15, including four in Friday’s violence – two in Bihar, one in Uttar Pradesh and one in Telangana. Public and police vehicles were attacked and personnel injured in the snow of agitation in other parts of the country including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand.
Over 200 trains were affected, 35 were canceled and 13 were short terminated, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Army Chief General Manoj Pandey said to address concerns.
Here’s a look at the states where mobs spiraled out of control, resulting in scenes of arson and vandalism:
Telangana
A mob torched a parcel coach of a passenger train at Secunderabad railway station. In police firing to disperse the crowd, one person was killed, while 15 others were injured and then admitted to the hospital. Unknown miscreants created a ruckus at the railway station, raising slogans against the Center demanding general recruitment in the army. Some stalls were also damaged and the mob took out goods from the parcel coach and threw it on the tracks to set it on fire, disrupting some train services.
A state in Eastern India
In Bihar, where the younger generation trains for years to get into defence, angry candidates set fire to two trains – the New Delhi-Bhagalpur Vikramshila Express at Lakhisarai and the New Delhi-Darbhanga Bihar Sampark Kranti Express at Samastipur. In Patna, the house of Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi was also attacked by a mob. State BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal’s residence in Bettiah town was also vandalized, but the leader claimed that the attackers were not job-seekers. The attack comes a day after BJP MLA Aruna Devi was injured in a stone-pelting incident in Nawada, where the party office was torched. A toll plaza in Didarganj on the outskirts of Patna and a police jeep in Nawada were also set ablaze.
In Lakhisarai, people lay on the tracks at the railway station but dispersed. The protesters also blocked highways and burnt tires at several places in Buxar, Bhagalpur and Samastipur.
Haryana
Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Palwal, Faridabad, Rohtak, Narnaul and Gurugram districts. The administration is anticipating angry mobs at railway stations, bus stands, markets, national highways and power grids in Gurugram despite no fresh agitation. Security has been beefed up at the Deputy Commissioner’s residence in Palwal after the stone-pelting incident on Thursday.
In Ballabhgarh, youths pelted stones on vehicles, in Jind, on railway tracks, and burnt tires in Rohtak. Police resorted to mild lathi charge and arrested over 40 people in Ballabhgarh, where authorities suspended mobile internet and SMS services for 24 hours as a precautionary measure following violence in Palwal district.
There were also scenes of agitation in Hisar, Narnaul, Fatehabad and Jhajjar. State Home Minister Anil Vij said action would be taken against those who caused violence and damage to public property. A company of Indian Reserve Battalion has been sought from Rewari to ensure law and order.
Police have registered a case against over 1,000 people for Thursday’s violence in Palwal district. Three FIRs were registered in connection with the violence. Police said that two FIRs were registered in Palwal sub-division, one in Hodal sub-division.
Haryana districts like Rewari, Charkhi Dadri, Gurugram and Palwal send a large number of youth to the defense forces.
UTTAR PRADESH
Youth raised slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Take back Agneepath’ and torched a railway coach in Ballia and damaged buses at other places. The police had to lathi-charge and use tear gas shells, in which 100 people were detained.
Officials said violent protests took place at 17 places across the state, including Firozabad, Amethi, Varanasi, Unnao and Deoria. A bus was torched and at least two others damaged on the Yamuna Expressway near Tappal in Aligarh. Four buses were damaged in stone pelting on Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Firozabad. The protesters also targeted buses in Varanasi and Ballia.
Many trains were canceled or stopped. “In Ballia, youths torched a bogie of an additional coach train. There have been minor incidents from other places. The police officers told him about the plan. Youth are being taken into confidence through public representatives.
A video showed youths raising slogans and vandalizing Ballia-Varanasi MEMU and Ballia-Shahganj trains. They also pelted stones near the railway godown and targeted private shops on the platform.
Ballia SP Raj Karan Nayyar said, “Some students, while returning from the railway station, tried to break the window pane of an empty train at the washing pit and also set a bogie on fire. As soon as the information was received, RPF and police reached the spot and doused the fire. PTI,
Road traffic was badly affected in Aligarh and Noida. In Varanasi, mobs raised anti-government slogans at Chhawni railway station and damaged buses and trains. They were also pelting stones at the police, later vandalizing buses outside the DRM office in Lahartara area.
Madhya Pradesh
The agitation spread to Madhya Pradesh after hundreds of people gathered on a track near a railway station in Indore and pelted stones and blocked a road. The authorities were forced to stop or cancel some trains, forcing the police to use tear gas to control the situation. Two policemen were injured in stone pelting and 15 people were arrested.
“Around 600 youths gathered in separate groups on the tracks near Laxmibai Nagar railway station in the city, forcing the railway administration to stop some trains. Two policemen suffered minor injuries during the incident, but there is no report of train passengers getting injured in stone pelting so far,” informed Indore Police Commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra. PTI,
Western Railway officials said the crowd stopped the Daund-Indore and Varanasi-Indore Mahakal Express trains for 45 minutes. Police and RPF personnel have been deployed at different stations of Indore.
Road traffic was also affected in the commercial hub of Madhya Pradesh. Eyewitnesses said the candidates briefly blocked traffic on the busy Agra-Mumbai road but were lathi-charged by the police. Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in Mhow Cantonment area near Indore. A day earlier on Thursday, incidents of stone pelting and arson were reported from near a railway station in Gwalior.
RAJASTHAN RAJASTHAN
The agitators damaged public property and blocked railway tracks, besides holding demonstrations and rallies in various parts of the state. Hundreds of people blocked the Agra-Bandikui railway track in Bharatpur. Some of them wearing masks pelted stones at the police personnel, following which the police fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
“Stones were pelted on policemen. A policeman was injured. We had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd. The situation is under control now,” said Bharatpur SP Shyam Singh.
In Alwar, the glass of the police vehicle was damaged in stone pelting, while in Chittorgarh there was an agitation in the district collector’s office. The mob damaged railway property and pelted stones at policemen in the district.
Anti-centre slogans and effigies of the Prime Minister in Sikar! Narendra Modi burnt. A roadways bus was vandalized in the Neem Ka police station area of the district.
In Kota and Jaipur, rallies were taken out and defense job aspirants led by the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) agitated in several parts of the state on Thursday as well.
Jharkhand
The agitators blocked tracks at several places in the state, disrupting train services in several railway divisions, including the Howrah-Mumbai route. East Central Railway canceled five trains following the blockade at Dhanbad station. People sat on the tracks and raised slogans against the Centre, but they soon dispersed.
The movement of several other trains was also affected due to the agitation. Dhanbad-Dehri-on-Sone Express is stopped at Koderma, Asansol-Varanasi MEMU at Gomoh and Barkakana-Varanasi at Barwadih.
Delhi
A case of rioting was also registered against unidentified persons by the Delhi Police after they attempted to block traffic and damage a bus in North East Delhi. A senior police officer said the windscreen of a minibus was damaged due to stone pelting.
Case under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of offense committed in the prosecution of common object) and 427 (mischief causing damage to amount) Has been recorded. Fifty rupees of the Indian Penal Code).
West Bengal and Odisha
In West Bengal, protesters attempted to march towards the residence of BJP MP and Union Minister Shantanu Thakur, while a cantonment area in Odisha witnessed a crowd.
Hundreds of candidates blocked the Ring Road in Cuttack and tore hoardings in the city’s cantonment area. A man, who is said to have died by suicide after the agitation, cleared physical fitness and medical tests during a recruitment drive by the Army, fearing that it would be scrapped after the announcement of the new plan. .
Train services on the Sealdah-Banagaon route in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district were disrupted for over an hour as a group of students blocked railway tracks.
(with PTI inputs)
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