Stones hurled at Vande Bharat Express in Kerala, third incident in 3 days

Three days after two trains were pelted with stones in the northern Kannur district, the semi-high speed train met with the same treatment.

In another incident of stone pelting on trains in Kerala, a window pane of Kasargod- Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express got damaged after stones were hurled by unidentified miscreants on Wednesday, reported news agency PTI.

According to the railway officials, the incident took place near Vatakara between 4- 4:30 pm. (HT_PRINT)

Read here: Stones pelted at Delhi-Bhopal Vande Bharat near Agra

Three days after two trains were pelted with stones in the northern Kannur district, the semi-high speed train met with the same treatment resulting in damage to one of its windows of the C-8 coach, and raising safety concerns over rail travel in the state.

According to the railway officials, the incident took place near Vatakara between 4- 4:30 pm. "No one was injured in the incident. The glass was shattered from the outside," they said.

On Sunday, stones were hurled on Mangaluru-Chennai Superfast Express and Netravati Express when the trains reached a region between Kannur South and Valapattanam in the district. The windowpane of the AC coaches of both trains were found damaged, officials had said.

Kerala got its's first Vande Bharat Express train on April 25 this year connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod. The train operates on six days except Thursday. It covers the 586 km long journey in eight hours and five minutes while halting at 14 railway stations.

Earlier this week, a window pane of the Bhopal-Delhi Vande Bharat Express was damaged after a 20-year-old man allegedly threw stones at the semi high-speed train in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district. The incident took place at around 10 am on Sunday near Banmore railway station when the train was on its way Delhi.

During interrogation, the accused "admitted" to have pelted stones at the premium train and said he did so for "fun", the official stated.

Meanwhile, union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said in the parliament that the Railways suffered a loss of over ₹55 lakh due to damage caused by stone pelting on Vande Bharat trains since 2019.

Read here: Railways lost ₹55.60 lakh in damages to stone pelting: Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

In a reply to a query in Lok Sabha, the minister said that in response to such incidents, 151 people involved in stone pelting have been arrested. No incident leading to the loss of life of a passenger or theft or damage to a passenger's belongings has been reported, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)