PEOPLE PROTESTING against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme set on fire an empty train in Ballia district and a police outpost in Aligarh on Friday, police said. Several incidents of protesters indulging in violence on the highways were reported from districts in Uttar Pradesh, where travellers were stuck in traffic jams and violence due to the protests.
On the incident reported from Ballia railway station, police said the protesters were dispersed, the fire was doused and further action is underway. Videos of protesters vandalising trains and a bogey on fire surfaced on social media on Friday morning. The students also vandalised stalls at the railway station and indulged in stone-pelting in some parts of the district.
Ballia Superintendent of Police Raj Karan Nayyar said in a statement, “There was information that some students gathered at the railway station and stadium. Senior police officers and magistrates started a conversation with them. The students were dispersed from there. While being dispersed from the railway station, they tried to break windows of an empty train. They also tried to set on fire a bogey of a train stationed in an isolated area. The fire is being doused. All have been dispersed from the spot, patrolling is underway and further action is being taken.”
“Around 100 people have been sent to jail after they were booked under CrPC section 151…” he said later.
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PremiumIn Varanasi, a protest against the Centre’s scheme was reported on Friday, with two roadways buses being vandalised by protesters. A police officer said that they were spoken to and dispersed. “The situation is now under control,” the officer said.
In Aligarh, a part of the Jattari police outpost and a vehicle inside the outpost premises were set ablaze by protesters. They blocked a highway and vandalised buses. Some buses were also set on fire. After that, police tried to disperse them and they went and set the Jattari police outpost on fire.
