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Agnipath row: Nearly 600 trains cancelled today amid stir, Bharat Bandh
Heavy security was deployed at almost all railway stations across the country in wake of violent protests against the ‘Agnipath’ scheme since last week.
At least 595 trains were cancelled during the day across the country in the wake of the continued protest against the Centre's new recruitment scheme, ‘Agnipath’, and the day-long Bharat Bandh over the issue.
These include 208 mail express and a total of 379 passenger trains, news agency ANI reported citing the Railways. Furthermore, four mail express and six passenger trains were partially cancelled due to the ongoing stir.
Catch live updates of Agnipath protest, Bharat Bandh here
Train services have been one of the worst-hit in several parts of the country over the past few days in the wake of the protest, launched by youth, mostly defence aspirants. Some vandals even torched trains and damaged Railways properties in several places, especially in Bihar, leading to hundreds of arrests.
Meanwhile, security measures had to be beefed up across the country for the Bharat Bandh.
Members of Youth Congress blocked a train at Delhi's Shivaji Bridge, with some workers climbing on the carriages as they demanded a rollback of the recruitment model. Heavy security was deployed at almost all railway stations across the country in the wake of violent protests against the ‘Agnipath’ scheme since last week.
Jharkhand ordered all schools to remain shut for the day, even as authorities deployed over 5,000 personnel across the eastern state to maintain law and order situation. In Haryana, the administration of Jhajjar and Mahendragarh ordered all coaching centres to stay shut.
Similar situations prevailed in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and even in Telangana where scores of security forces were seen on roads to maintain law and order.
Since the start of the protests, several trains or their compartments have been torched in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana, among others. Besides, station master's offices were ransacked by protesting armed forces aspirants and parked police vehicles were either destroyed or burnt down. One person was killed in alleged police firing during one such protest in Telangana’s Secunderabad.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh along with the three service chiefs - IAF, Army and Air Force, had launched the ‘Agnipath’ scheme on June 14. Despite meeting with nationwide stir and sharp criticism from the opposition leaders, the BJP-led Centre has refused to revoke the scheme. All the three service chiefs have said the policy will be beneficial to India's youth and will also give them a chance to serve the nation.
