In yet another incident of alleged stone-pelting, two window panes of a coach the Vande Bharat Express in Visakhapatnam, scheduled to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 19, was left damaged on Wednesday. The incident occurred when the train was stationed for maintenance. “At 6:30pm somebody pelted stones on Vande Bharat train in Visakhapatnam, two window panes were totally shattered & need to be replaced. This is very unfortunate”, Anup Kumar Satpathy, divisional railway manager was quoted by ANI.
The train will run between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam, and will have intermediate halts in Warangal, Khammam, Vijayawada and Rajahmundry.
Previously, on January 3 and 4, the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express was pelted with stones. The second incident had happened in Bihar while the BJP and a section of the media claimed that it took place in West Bengal.
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The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express was inaugurated by Modi on December 30. While three days later, unidentified people pelted stones at the train, damaging the window panes.
The stone-throwing had triggered a blame game between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TMC had claimed that the assertion has given a bad name to the state. “We should have faith in the administration. But some people in West Bengal are politicising this incident. This should stop,” West Bengal education minister Bratya Basu was quoted as saying by PTI.
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In view of the recurring incidents of stone-pelting of trains in recent months, an awareness campaign was launched in the troubled areas of the NCR zone with joint teams of railway officials and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel.
“We have been getting instructions from the railway board concerning the incidents of throwing stones on moving trains. Our teams have been undertaking awareness drives in villages and urban localities situated near the railway tracks,” commissioner of North Central Railway (NCR), Prayagraj, TK Agnihotri told HT.
