Outrage Erupts: Stones Pelted at Vande Bharat Train, Windows Shattered in Vandal Attack Days Before Grand Flag-Off
In a troubling incident, the Vande Bharat Express faced yet another attack just two days before its scheduled official run. The incident occurred on Friday night in Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district while the Durg-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express was undergoing a trial run. Miscreants damaged the window panes of three coaches by hurling stones. Police apprehended five individuals—Devendra Chandrakar, Shiv Kumar Baghel, Arjun Yadav, Jitu Tandi, and Lekhraj Sonwani—all residents of Bagbahra.
Scheduled to commence regular service in September from Durg, the train was returning from Visakhapatnam when it was attacked near Bagbahra railway station. Praveen Singh Dhakad, an inspector with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Mahasamund, reported that a four-person RPF escort flagged the incident, prompting the dispatch of a security team to the location. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
The arrested individuals face charges under multiple sections of the Railways Act of 1989, including Section 153, which can result in up to five years in prison for acts endangering railway passengers. Notably, one of the accused, Shiv Kumar Baghel, is related to a local Congress corporator in Bagbahra.
This is not an isolated incident; in August, the Ahmedabad-Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express struck a cement slab placed on tracks in Rajasthan’s Pali district, and in June, stones were thrown at a New Delhi-bound Vande Bharat Express between Phagwara and Goraya.
Meanwhile, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently unveiled a prototype of the Vande Bharat sleeper coach at BEML’s facility, which will undergo extensive trials and testing.
These recurrent attacks raise serious concerns about the safety and security measures in place for India’s premier semi-high-speed train service.
Original Story https://www.livemint.com/news/india/vande-bharat-train-stones-pelted-vwindow-panes-damaged-ahead-of-flagging-off-chhattisgarh-mahasamund-railways-11726303405372.html
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