Several districts of West Bengal on Friday witnessed protests over the Agnipath scheme. Though there was no report on any violence, but the rail and vehicular movemens were disrupted at various places.
Protesting youth blocked railway tracks at Thakurnagar railway station in the North 24 Parganas district demanding withdrawal of recruitment under the Agnipath scheme. Train services under the Sealdah section were disrupted due to the protests.
There were protests in Purulia and the south western part of the State and Siliguri in north Bengal.
A number of trains starting from Howrah Station were cancelled and short terminated. Among the trains cancelled were Kolkata –Gorakhpur Express and Raxaul- Mithila Express. “Kamakhya – Delhi Brahmaputra Express (Journey Commencing on 16.06.2022) will be short terminated at Malda Town. Moreover, 03023 Howrah – Patna Examination Special will leave Howrah at 20:00 hrs. on 17.06.2022 instead of scheduled departure time at 13:50 hrs,” a statement from the Eastern Railway said attributing it to “ongoing student agitation at various stations over East Central Railway”. Hundreds of people were stranded at Howrah station.