Stones thrown at Durg-Vizag Vande Bharat Express during trial run; five arrested
PM Narendra Modi will flag off this latest Vande Bharat service on Monday, the eve of his 74th birthday.
In the latest such incident involving a Vande Bharat train, stones were pelted at a Vande Bharat Express undertaking its trial run, resulting in the arrest of five people in Chhattisgarh's Mahasumund, officials said on Saturday.
A relative of one of the accused is a member of a political party, they claimed.
Also Read: Man smashes Vande Bharat window with hammer. Viral video leaves internet puzzled
Also, the incident occurred days before prime minister Narendra Modi will, on Monday – the eve of his 74th birthday – flag off this latest Vande Bharat. It will connect Chhattisgarh's Durg and Visakhapatnam (also called Vizag) in Andhra Pradesh.
“The train was passing through Bagbahra railway station on its way back from Visakhapatnam to Durg during its trial run around 9pm Friday,” PTI quoted Praveen Singh Dhakad of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), as saying.
“Some anti-social elements hurled stones at it, damaging window panes of the C2, C4 and C9 coaches. No one was injured,” the RPF inspector added.
Also Read: Boy throws stones at Vande Bharat Express train window, people condemn his act
He further stated that an RPF escort party, led by an assistant sub-inspector, sent an alert regarding the pelting, following which security personnel were dispatched to the site.
Shiv Kumar Baghel, Devendra Chandrakar, Jitu Tandi, Lekhraj Sonwani and Arjun Yadav – all Bagbahra residents – are in custody.
As per the officials, Baghel's sister-in-law is a corporator of the opposition Congress party in the state.
Also Read: Stone pelted at Vande Bharat Express in Odisha, window panes damaged
The group has been booked under Section 153 (anyone who endangers the safety of a person travelling on a railway by a willful act or omission is punishable with up to five years in prison) of the Railways Act, 1989.