'If Anybody Destroys Public Property Shoot Them At Sight': Jr. Railway Minister Amid CAA Protests

Amid the ongoing protests in different parts of the country of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Union Minister of State (MoS) Railways, Suresh Angadi on Tuesday warned that anybody resorting to such acts would be shot at sight by the authorities.

The minister further asserted that it is taxpayers' money and to develop one train it takes years together. (File Photo/ Getty)

Hubli: Amid the ongoing protests in different parts of the country of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Union Minister of State (MoS) Railways, Suresh Angadi on Tuesday warned that anybody resorting to such acts would be shot at sight by the authorities. "I have told the district administration and railway authorities concerned that if anybody destroys public property, they can be shot at sight. I am giving this directive as a Union Minister," Angadi told news agency ANI while replying to a question regarding the railway facing losses in West Bengal and other states due to the ongoing protests in the region. The minister further asserted that it is taxpayers' money and to develop one train it takes years together. "If anybody throws stones at that time government should take stringent action like Vallabhbhai Patel. Local minorities, some communities are unnecessarily creating problems to destabilise the country's economy," he added. WATCH | Junior Railway Minister Shocking Statement On Citizenship Amendment Act Protest

#WATCH Union Min of State of Railways, Suresh Angadi speaks on damage to properties. Says "...I strictly warn concerned dist admn&railway authorities, if anybody destroys public property, including railway, I direct as a Minister, shoot them at sight..." #CitizenshipAmendmentAct pic.twitter.com/VeUpZY7AjX

— ANI (@ANI) December 17, 2019

The controversial statement from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister comes amid nationwide protests against the amended Citizenship Act, which aims to make it easier for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to become Indian nationals. According to reports, protesters had set the Beldanga railways station complex in Murshidabad afire on December 13, despite appeals for calm from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. They also assaulted Railway Police Force personnel at the station. Eastern Railway on Tuesday canceled as many as 19 trains due to the ongoing unrest across the country over the newly-enacted Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. "In connection with law and order problem in the jurisdiction of Northeast Frontier Railway and in New Farakka-Azimganj and Krishnanagar-Lalgola Sections of Eastern Railway, 19 trains have been canceled for today," Public Relations Officer of Eastern Railway said in a release. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. Railway premises and property including stations, ticket counters, platform shades, panel rooms and at least 15 trains were vandalised, looted and torched by the anti-CAA protestors, who also blockaded rail tracks and highways throwing train and vehicular movement haywire for four days since Friday.