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The violent protest over the new army recruitment scheme, Agnipath, at Secunderabad Railway Station here on Friday left one dead and 14 injured.
There was a sudden protest by many youths who gathered on the platforms of Secunderabad Railway Station here this morning demanding the withdrawal of the scheme.
The protestors attacked the East Coast Express and set the engine and few compartments, including the luggage wagon on fire. The parcels which were to be loaded on to different trains were thrown on the tracks and burnt.
The police, who were caught unaware, initially canned and fired teargas shells to disperse the protestors and control the situation. Three suffered bullet injuries and one of them, Domodhar Rakesh, succumbed to the wounds. The remaining 14 are being treated at the Gandhi Hospital here.
The Secunderabad station, rated as one of the top stations in the country in terms of maintenance, is damaged extensively as the protestors target signaling and public address systems apart from furniture and train compartments. Additional forces were rushed to the station, which is closed to the public along with the Nampally railway station.
About six trains are set on fire at Secundarabad by job aspirants protesting against the new army recruitment scheme. | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
Train cancellations
The South Central Railway (SCR) said, an investigation would be conducted into the incident. It had also cancelled/rescheduled about 80 trains, including the local trains in view of the protests. Many trains, which were to reach the city, have been halted midway and railway officials are trying to provide facilities to the stranded passengers. The Hyderabad Metro services were also halted during the day and were only restored in the evening.
Even as the police are investigating the incident, the violent protest led to a war of words between the political parties. While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president alleged that the protesters were from the Congress and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), K T Rama Rao, working president of TRS and Minister for IT & Industries, Telangana demanded the Centre to scrap the Agnipath scheme.
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