In yet another incident of stone pelting on Vande Bharat Express, a New Jalpaiguri-Howrah train was targeted by unidentified miscreants in Bihar’s Katihar district on Friday evening, officials said.
According to representatives of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), the event took place between the railway stations of Dalkola and Telta in the Katihar Rail division of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). The incident caused damage to the C6 coach’s glass panes on the train (22302). A Railway Act complaint has been made at the RPF’s Dalkola post in West Bengal.
The electric train travels through Bihar on its way from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri, stopping briefly at Barsoi in the Katihar district, which is close to Kishanganj. In Bihar, there have been two similar incidents in the last 20 days.
On January 3, stone throwers damaged a Vande Bharat Express coach close to the Kishanganj train station. According to Kamal Singh, the senior divisional security commissioner of the Katihar rail division, the stone-throwing attack was reported by local officials on Friday at around 4.45 pm. RPF investigators hurried to the scene of the accident to learn more about what happened and why.
“RPF scanned CCTV footage to identify the stone pelters. The RPF also sought help from Katihar SP Jitendra Kumar to identify the culprits,” said Singh.
“Investigation into the incident is being conducted by RPF along with state GRP (Government Railway Police) and the state police. RPF has also started awareness campaigns in some areas so that stone pelting cases can be stopped,” said Sabyasachi De, CPRO, NFR.
Three of the four minors who threw stones at the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express train on January 3 were apprehended by police in Kishanganj on January 5. The boys, residents of Nimalgaon in Potiya police station area, were later produced before the juvenile justice board.
Police are checking the alleged attack, according to Katihar SP Jitendra Kumar, and are awaiting a thorough report from the railways.
