Swara Garge
In Bengaluru stones were thrown at the Vande Bharat Express (Mysore – Chennai). Nearly six windows were damaged. The South Western Railways (SWR) will increase patrolling in such active areas. The SWR also reported zero casualties, no passengers were hurt.
The episode took place between the stretch from KR Puram to Bengaluru cantonment stations in Karnataka. Train was thrashed with stones around 10.30pm on Saturday. The attack led to damage of around six windows. According to SWR officials it is learnt that the damage to the train is comparatively minimal but the issue will be treated seriously. SWR will increase patrolling in these areas.
Vande Bharat Express stone pelting cases are very frequent. The train has been hit by stones at multiple locations. Same train has previously faced stone pelting between Bangarpet and Krishnarajapuram. Vande Bharat Express running between Vishakapatanam and Secunderabad has also faced the same issue. A SWR release noted that the Bangalore Division’s Railway Protection Force have registered a total of 13 cases of stone pelting in February alone. In January the RPF reported 21 cases. A total of 34 cases have been registered. Although no casualties were reported in any of the cases.
In Saturday’s incident, the probe has directed the suspects to be the slum dwellers and some college students The information is yet to be confirmed as the matter is being looked into. The SWR is looking at involving local police stations for better security.
“We deployed extra teams at the incident site today and there was no incident. We are doing our best to identify the stone pelters. However, the situation can be tricky if young children are involved,” said an RPF official.