Three trains set on fire, railway station ransacked in Bihar

Patna, June 1 (ANI): Three trains came under attack of hundreds of agitated people about 32 kilometre from Patna on Monday morning over Railways' decision to withdraw halt of various trains at Bihar's Khusrupur railway station.

The furious mob torched train bogies, ransacked station and uprooted rail lines falling under Danapur division

Local residents were outraged after reading the East Central Railway's announcement in morning newspaper stating withdrawal of stoppage of several express trains, including Rajgir-New Delhi Shramajivi Express and Kosi Express at Khusrupur.

Four bogies of Danapur-Rajgir passenger train were torched near Kushrupur station.

Earlier, the protesters attacked the Intercity Express and uprooted rail lines under Danapur division, about 32 kilometers from Patna, besides ransacking and torching the Khusrupur station.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Government Railway Police (Patna East) Rajendra Singh, hundreds of people from nearby villages stormed the Khusrupur railway station on Monday morning, ransacked the station and burnt it down.

The news enraged many local residents, who attacked the 3226 down Danapur-Jainagar Intercity Express at Baikatpur village near the station, and torched its three bogies-two general coaches and an air-conditioned chair car, Singh said.

They uprooted the railway lines at a long stretch, which falls under Danapur division of East Central railway.

The fire tenders pressed into service to douse the blaze had to struggled for hours to control the flames, said Singh.

Moreover, the outraged locals also damaged several electronic and other railway operation equipment and signal system, besides ticket booking counter, Singh added.

Reinforcements were sent to Khusrupur station to control the situation, he said.

By afternoon, senior railway and police officials had reached the place of incident and patrolling had been intensified as tension was high in the area, Singh added.

However, the Railways revoked its decision to remove halt at the Khusrupur railway station following such a violent demonstration by local residents.

Former Union Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, condemned the attack on train and other Railways property.

Meanwhile, The new Union Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee termed the furious people near Patna as "misguided".

"No decision was taken by me on stoppages. I don't know why this rumour has been circulated. I will address the issues of Bihar. I will haul up Railway officials in Patna for not projecting the correct information," Mamata Banerjee was quoted by CNN-IBN as saying.

"All passengers are safe. Fire has been put out and the AC coach is partially burnt," said PRO of Railways, AK Chandra. (ANI)