Agnipath Protests: One Dead In Telangana, Trains Set On Fire, Stations Vandalised In UP & Bihar | Updates

Venting their ire, the protestors armed with brickbats and stones fanned out across large parts of the country from Uttar Pradesh to Telangana and Bihar to Madhya Pradesh.

New Delhi: As protests continued unabated in several states against the Central government's Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces, one person was killed in police firing in Telangana’s Secunderabad on Friday. Protesters vandalised public property, torched trains and blocked tracks and highways as agitations took a violent turn despite assurances by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Army chief over the defence recruitment scheme.

Protesters, armed with brickbats and stones, fanned out across large parts of the country from Uttar Pradesh to Telangana and Bihar to Madhya Pradesh as railway stations and highways turned into battleground. The Indian Railways said over 300 trains were affected and more than 200 cancelled so far due to the protests. At least four trains were set on fire -- two in Bihar, one in Uttar Pradesh and one in Telangana.

Agnipath Protests Escalate Across Bihar, UP, Telangana: Top Developments

• Coaches of seven trains have so far been set ablaze by protesters, PTI quoted Railway officials as saying. Carriages of three running trains in the East Central Railway (ECR), headquartered in Bihar's Hajipur, and one empty rake in Kulharia were damaged by protestors. One coach of a train was also damaged in the washing line at Uttar Pradesh's Ballia. So far, 64 trains were short terminated in ECR.


• In Bihar, the angry protestors set fire to bogies of the New Delhi-Bhagalpur Vikramshila Express in Lakhisarai and the New Delhi-Darbhanga Bihar Sampark Kranti Express in Samastipur. The people lay down on the tracks to block the movement of trains at the Lakhisarai station. They were dispersed by the railway and local police personnel. The demonstrators also blocked highways at several places in Buxar, Bhagalpur and Samastipur and burnt tyres.


• A mob attacked the house of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi in Patna. State BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal's residence in Bettiah town was also vandalised but the leader claimed the attackers were not job aspirants.


• A parcel coach of a passenger train was set ablaze by a crowd of around 300 to 350 people in Secunderabad.


• One person died and 13 others were critically injured after the police opened fire on youths protesting at Secunderabad railway station. The deceased has been identified as D Rakesh, native of Dabbirpet, Khanapur Mandal, Warangal district. He was pursuing his degree in a government college in Narasmpet and was preparing for joining the Army.


• In UP, youths raised slogans such of "Agnipath Vapas Lo" and set an empty train on fire in Ballia town. They vandalised a few trains, prompting police to baton-charge them. Varanasi, Firozabad and Amethi also witnessed protests during which the demonstrators damaged government buses and other symbols of public property.


• In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city, scores of protestors gathered on tracks and hurled stones. Around 15 protesters were arrested. “Nearly 600 youths gathered in different groups on the tracks near Laxmibai Nagar railway station in the city, forcing the railway administration to stop a few trains,” PTI quoted Indore Police Commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra as saying.


• Protests escalated in Haryana, with youths burning tyres and several others squatting on rail tracks in Narwana and blocking the Jind-Bathinda track. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar-led government has, following the violent protests in Palwal, suspended mobile internet and SMS services for 24 hours in Ballabhgarh area of Faridabad district as a precautionary measure.


• The national capital was relatively quiet as compared to other places. Metro travel was, however, disrupted with members of the Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association staging demonstrations. As a precautionary step, the entry and exit gates of some Delhi Metro stations had to be closed.


• Amid the protests, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Army chief General Manoj Pande stepped in to assuage concerns. The Home Minister said the decision to increase the upper age limit will benefit a large number of youth. Shah said that the recruitment process in the Army had been affected for the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sensitive decision by showing concern for the country’s youth.


• Even as the ruling dispensation defended the scheme, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took potshots at the government. Citing schemes such as GST, noteban, farm laws and now Agnipath, Gandhi and said they were projected to be for the welfare of the people but were rejected by the citizens. “Agnipath - youth rejected. Farm laws - farmers rejected. Noteban - economists rejected. GST - traders rejected. The Prime Minister does not understand what the people of the country want, as he cannot hear anything except the voice of his ‘friends’,” he tweeted in Hindi.
  
   


• The Centre, which unveiled this scheme on Tuesday, said the youngsters between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 23 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure, while 25 percent of the recruits will be retained for regular service.