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Protests against Agnipath scheme continue in Uttar Pradesh
Arson, vandalism, stone-pelting witnessed, roads and railway tracks blocked in some districts ; police outpost set afire in Aligarh, empty train coach torched in Ballia
Protests against the Agnipath scheme for short-term recruitment in the armed forces continued for the second day in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.
The affected districts included Ballia, Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Firozabad, Kanpur Dehat, Farrukhabad and Unnao among others.
These districts witnessed slogan-shouting, road and railway track blockages, stone pelting, vandalism and arson.
In Aligarh, the protestors set ablaze a police outpost at Jattari and a vehicle there. Four roadways buses were targeted in Tappal area on the Yamuna Expressway, also in Aligarh.
In eastern Uttar Pradesh, police took 100 people into custody in Ballia, according to a PTI report.
Additional director general (ADG) of police, law and order, Prashant Kumar said stray incidents were reported in some districts, including Ballia and Aligarh’s Tappal. He said police officers were asked to intensify vigil at railway platforms and other places to avert any further trouble.
He added that intelligence reports indicated that some organisations were trying to incite tension by misleading youths about the new recruitment policy. The police were trying to track them and stern action will be taken against them, ADG said.
In Ballia, a mob vandalised an empty train coach, setting it on fire. The angry protestors, who also damaged other railway property, were dispersed after the intervention of security personnel.
The protestors set afire the isolated coach when it was in the washing lines in the outer area of the station.
Public relations officer (PRO) of North-Eastern Railways Pankaj Singh said the fire was immediately controlled and there was no “major loss”.
Ballia superintendent of police 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 on fire a bogey. RPF and police reached the spot as soon as they got the news, and brought the fire under control.”
Ballia district magistrate Saumya Agarwal said, “Around 100 persons have been taken into custody. They have been identified using CCTV footage and strict action will be initiated against the accused. The situation is under control, and there is peace. Adequate force is deployed.”
Former MLA Surendra Singh, who represented Bairia in Ballia from 2017 to 2022, criticised the government’s decision to recruit youth as Agniveers in the army for four years. Singh said that youths should be recruited in the army for not four, but for twenty-four years.
Singh has sent a letter to the prime minister, the defence minister and the home minister, urging them to reconsider the scheme.
The news agency PTI quoted Dharmendra Singh, younger brother of Uttar Pradesh transport minister and Ballia MLA Daya Shankar Singh as saying, “Unruly elements pelted the camp office of Daya Shankar Singh with stones and also damaged the hoarding put up at the office gate.”
Ballia district inspector of schools Rakesh Kumar has ordered that the re-opening of schools after the summer vacation should be done only after further orders.
In Kanpur, four people were detained after a WhatsApp chat showed how some people were planning to burn a police outpost and stage a violent protest against the Agnipath scheme, according to the police.
Police officials familiar with the matter said they were allegedly trying to burn down the Ramadevi police post in Chakeri area of Kanpur. The WhatsApp group was being run in the name of Boycott TOD, they added.
Joint commissioner of police Anand Prakash Tiwari said police were monitoring social media and identifying the people who were part of this group. He appealed to the youth to not pay heed to rumours and lies.
In Firozabad, protestors damaged three buses of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) on the 302-km Agra- Lucknow Expressway early on Friday.
“Information was received on Friday morning that handful of youths near Sangai Kharedia village under the Matsena police station limits damaged windscreen of buses on the Agra- Lucknow Expressway with sticks and batons at 5am on Friday,” Firozabad SSP Ashish Tiwari said.
“These protestors had moved away and police reached the spot. Those in buses were provided alternative transport and moved to their destination. Situation is totally normal and traffic runs as usual on the Agra Lucknow Expressway,” Tiwari said.
In Mathura, Jan Shatabdi Express train was stopped for five minutes underneath the Narhauli bridge. The tracker was cleared later. Protestors blocked highways and pelted buses with stones in Mathura district.
Police had to fire in the air to control violent protestors targeting buses on the Agra-Delhi highway near Naroli in Mathura. The owners abandoned their vehicles, creating a jam on Yamuna Expressway. Police slowly gained control and removed the stranded vehicles.
Mathura SSP Gaurav Grover issued a video appeal to youths in Mathura to stay away from protests.
In Varanasi, the youths protested outside Cantt railway station and in the Cholapur area of the district. They held placards and shouted slogans.
The protestors pelted some vehicles with stones at Chowkaghat, Roadways and Englishia Line in Varanasi. At least two buses were vandalized.
Protestors blocked the track at Lalpur railway station in Kanpur Dehat, at Chhata railway station in Mathura and Deoria.
(WITH PTI INPUTS)
