Two trains were vandalised and a compartment set afire at the Ballia railway station as violent protests against the Agnipath scheme for short-term recruitment of soldiers in the defence services were held across eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Ballia district magistrate Soumya Agrawal said that the police managed to control the situation and promised action against the protesters even as officials maintained no major damage was caused.
About 150 protesters blocked a road at Wajidpur and disrupted traffic on the Varanasi-Jaunpur road before joint magistrate Monsoon Nagpal rushed to the spot and pacified the agitators.
In Varanasi, a protest was held outside the cantonment railway station and Cholapur. The protesters held placards and shouted slogans against the scheme. Stones were thrown on vehicles at places such as Chowkaghat and Englishia Line in Varanasi. At least a dozen buses were vandalised even as additional police forces were deployed
Protests were also reported from Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.