Agnipath violence: Train services resume in Secunderabad railway station under tight security cover

Hyderabad, Jun 18: Train services at Secunderabad Railway Station, which witnessed arson and violence resulting in the death of a protester aspiring to join the armed forces, are limping back to normalcy, a senior official of the South Central Railway said on Saturday.

D Rakesh, a 24-year-old Army aspirant from Warangal district, died and several people were injured after security personnel opened fire on hundreds of agitators at the Secunderabad railway station here on Friday as the protests against the Centre's new Agnipath military recruitment scheme escalated into large-scale violence and arson.

Violence and protests marred the station blocking rail services causing inconvenience to passengers for several hours. Train operations originating from the station were cancelled or partially cancelled and they resumed subsequently later in the evening. Additional Director General of Police (Railways) Sandeep Shandilya told PTI that the situation at Secunderabad station is peaceful and the police continue to deploy addition forces to thwart any untoward incident.

"Situation is normal at the station. We saw some problem at Mahbubnagar railway station. Overall, railway stations in Telangana are fine," the police officer said. A senior South Central Railway official said train services resumed from the station at 8 pm on Friday and are normal now. He said security was stepped up in and around the station and passengers with valid tickets are only allowed to enter the station premises. In a late night statement on Friday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced Rs 25 lakh as ex-gratia to the family of Rakesh and a government job based on qualification to one of the family members.

Meanwhile, TRS cadre and leaders of Narsampet gave a bandh call in the Assembly constituency limits in protest against the death of Rakesh who belonged the area. A senior police official in Narsampet said shops and establishments are closed and the situation is peaceful. PTI