New Delhi: Stones were pelted at a Vande Bharat Express train on Friday as it crossed Dalkhola-Telta railway station, a spot which comes under Balrampur in Katihar, Bihar. According to an ANI report, a train escort party informed local authorities that passengers travelling in Coach No. C-6, berth number 70 told them about the stone pelting incident which broke one windowpane on the right side of coach C-6 on train number 22302.
The incident reportedly took place between Dalkhola and the Telta railway stations at about 4:25 pm on Friday.
The matter was reported to the Railway Police Dalkhola which has sent a probe team to conduct an on-the-spot investigation.
The train began its journey from New Jalpaiguri at 3:05 pm with the final destination Howrah at 10:35 pm.
This is the fourth incident of stone-pelting this month. On January 12, three persons were arrested in Vishakapatnam in connection with an alleged stone-pelting incident on the new Vande Bharat Express train.
On January 3, the train was pelted with stones in the Kishanganj district and three boys, identified with the help of CCTV footage, were caught by police and produced before the juvenile justice board, as per news agency PTI
On the January 3 incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the stone-pelting took place in Bihar and not her state. She further threatened media outlets with legal actions, she said that action will be taken against those who spread "fake news".
"Vande Bharat was pelted with stones in Bihar and not in West Bengal. We will take legal action against those media outlets that telecast fake news that the incident took place in West Bengal and brought a bad name to our state," the Chief Minister told reporters, as quoted by PTI.
On January 2, stones were pelted at the train connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri, within just four days after its launch. Window panes of the Vande Bharat Express were broken as stones were thrown at the train near West Bengal's Malda, ANI reported.
A crack was formed in the glass shield of the door as a result of the pelting. However, all passengers were reported to be safe. The train wasn't delayed as the damage was not significant enough to halt the train which would've caused a delay.