Normalcy has been restored at the Secunderabad Railway Station that witnessed unprecedented violence on Friday, which left one killed and several injured. The South Central Railway, which cancelled several trains yesterday after the protestors set fire to a few trains yesterday, has restored most of the services. It, however, cancelled 58 trains, including 40 local trains on Saturday. “We have decided to cancel six trains on Sunday and one each on the following two days,” an SCR spokesperson said in a statement. A heavy posse of security personnel belonging to Railway Protection Force, Central Reserve Police Force and Telangana State police have been deployed at the Secunderabad station and several other stations in Hyderabad and other key stations in the State. About 2,000 protestors, who descended on the Secunderabad station from different parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to protest against the Agnipath scheme, had created havoc at the station, which is the busiest station in the State. Caught unawares, the RPF personnel found it impossible to control the crowds that went berserk and set fire to rail coaches and vandalised railway properties. The Hyderabad Metro Railway, which halted the services for a few hours yesterday to avert possible attacks on stations, has restored the services.
Meanwhile, the police are probing into the violence and checking suspected chats in several WhatsApp groups where some activists allegedly sent audio messages, asking others to join the attack on the station. About 30 persons have been arrested so far, including an alleged kingpin Subba Rao from Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.
Ex gratia Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has announced an ex-gratia of ₹25 lakh to the kin of Rakesh, who died during the protests against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme at the Secunderabad Railway Station on Friday. The State government will also consider providing a job to an eligible person from the family.
Expressing grief over the death of Rakesh, he said, “Rakesh was a victim of wrong policies adopted by the Union Government.”