Train stations, highways turn into battleground as youth fury over 'Agnipath' singes nation

Assurances by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Army chief failed to cut ice with hordes of angry youth, carrying bamboo sticks and stones, storming railway premises across cities and small towns and laying siege to highways, creating a security scare.

New Delhi: In a nationwide violent protest against the newly adopted short-term military recruitment scheme- Agnipath that registered the first death in police firing at Secundrabad railway station in Telangana on Friday. Reports coming in from different parts of the country show that the protests have turned violent after agitators which included mainly students resorted to arson and stone-pelting in several states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha among elsewhere. Protestors in Bihar torched trains at various places and attacked the residences of Bihar's deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi and Bihar BJP president and West Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal.

Over 300 trains have been affected and more than 200 cancelled so far due to the protests, the Railways said, reflecting the enormity of the agitation. Coaches of seven trains have so far been set ablaze by protesters, officials said, adding carriages of three running trains in the East Central Railway (ECR), headquartered in Bihar's Hajipur, and one empty rake in Kulharia, also in the same zone, 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. As the depredations against the recruitment scheme continued for the third day across large parts of India, from Uttar Pradesh to Telangana and Bihar to Madhya Pradesh, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Army chief Gen Manoj Pande tried to assuage the concerns of the agitators with little success.

Assurances by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Army chief failed to cut ice with hordes of angry youth, carrying bamboo sticks and stones, storming railway premises across cities and small towns and laying siege to highways, creating a security scare.

The protests turned violent in Secunderabad railway station on Friday after police fired in the air to quell the agitation. One person was reported dead and thirteen others were rushed to the hospital with bullet injuries in a police firing amid the ongoing protests against the Agnipath recruitment scheme.The deceased, identified as Damodar Rakesh from Nirmal, was a defense services aspirant and had joined the protests after paying a visit to the Army Recruitment Board.

In the wake of the violent protests at the at Secunderabad railway station, Hyderabad Metro Rail and MMTS train services were suspended on Friday. "Passengers are informed that due to some disturbance in the city, all operations in all three lines of Hyderabad Metro Rail stand suspended till further notice. Passengers are advised to take care and make alternate arrangements," said a spokesman of L&TMRHL. The services were resumed later in the day in a phased manner. "Hyderabad Metro Rail will resume its services from 6.35 pm onwards today, in a phased manner," L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail tweeted.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier on Tuesday, is for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, largely on a short-term contractual basis, with an aim to cut the ballooning salary and pensions bill. Protests by defence aspirants have broken out across several states in the country. The Secunderabad Railway Station saw violent protests wherein the angry protesters burnt bogeys of the East Coast Train that runs from Hyderabad to Kolkata. The railway police also arrested some protesters after a fire broke out on the tracks, though they were not able to control the situation owing to the swelling crowd.

Bihar:As many as three bogies of Vikramshila Express were set ablaze by protesting students in Bihar's Lakhisarai on Friday, marking the third consecutive day of nationwide protests against the recently introduced recruitment scheme. Protesters also torched the Jammu Tawi-Guwahati Express train in Samastipur at Mohiuddinnagar station of the Hajipur-Barauni railway section on Friday morning thereby burning two bogies of the train.

The Sampark Kranti Express train was also stopped and vandalized. Meanwhile, in Buxar, protesters descended on the railway track and blocked both the up and down lines of Dumraon railway station early morning at five. The residence of Jaiswal, in Bettiah, was attacked by agitators protesting against the Agnipath recruitment scheme. At least one policeman was injured meanwhile.

Jaiswal, while confirming the development, said that he was at his ancestral residence when the incident took place. "Not much damage to the property has been done," he said. However, Renu Devi's said, "Our residence in Bettiah was attacked. We suffered a lot of damage. She (Renu Devi) is in Patna." Another group of students protested on the railway tracks, while several trains have been delayed because of the blockage of the Delhi-Kolkata rail main road.

Similarly, another group of protestors blocked the railway tracks, disrupting the train services at Bihiya as well as at Mansi station at Khagaria. Similar cases of arson were reported at the Hajipur railway station. The District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police rushed to the spot and railway passengers were escorted outside the platform premises to safety. Trains have presently stopped operating at the station. Meanwhile, sixteen miscreants have been arrested for vandalism at the Arrah railway station on Thursday, while the police have so far registered cases against 655 people in the matter.

Later in the day, the Bihar government banned social networking cites in the State till June 19 in 12 districts - Kaimur, Bhojpur, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Buxar, Nawada, East Champaran, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Vaishali and Saran. The leaves of police personnel in Bihar have also been cancelled in view of the protests. Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in Bettiah till June 20. A school bus was stuck due to the protests in Darbhanga due to the protests resulting into panic among the students. The protesters let the bus pass on the request from police.

Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand:The neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh also experienced tensions with the agitating youths vandalizing a train parked at the Ballia railway station and setting it aflame. They also broke the counters of many shops in the city. The Balia police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse those creating ruckus. Similarly in the Massena area in Firozabad, some youths disrupted the Agra-Lucknow Expressway. The protesters pelted stones and damaged several state buses of UP Road Services.

Meanwhile, in Uttarakhand's Haldwani, youngsters had gathered in large numbers at Ramlila Maidan on Friday morning where they were about to take out a procession towards the residence of Union Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt. However, the police rushed to the spot as soon as they got the information and cleared the area. The protesters had also blocked the Tikoniya intersection for a brief period.

Angry aspirants at Jharkhand:In Jharkhand, the protesters raised slogans and blocked the up and down railway tracks at Daltonganj railway station. However, the police lathi-charged them and the crowd was soon cleared in 45 minutes. In the process, the youngsters resorted to stone pelting at the police personnel and vandalized a goods train. Railway operations could not commence till the time of reporting. Earlier, the youngsters had blocked National Highway 75 and the divisional headquarters at Medininagar Redma Chowk.

Under the Agnipath scheme, the Central government has started a new model of recruitment for the Army, Navy and Air Force on a contractual basis for four years. After four years, 75 per cent of the soldiers will have to retire without enjoying the benefits of pension. Only 25 per cent of the Agniveers would be retained by the armed forces.

This has angered those youths preparing for army recruitment as the traditional model of recruitment would now be replaced with short-term service. According to the government, this would bring down the mean age of the armed forces and would bring down the pension expenditure of the government leaving ample scope for defence modernisation.

Meanwhile, the central government on Thursday night announced that it will increase the upper age limit for recruitment under the Agnipath scheme from 21 years to 23 years for the year 2022.

Protests erupt in Odisha: The ripples of the protest also reached Odisha where hundreds of protesters blocked the arterial Ring Road and tore down hoardings in the Cantonment area in Cuttack on Friday. "Police held lathi charges to disperse the protestors and detained some of them. The situation is under control and action will be taken against offenders as per the law," said Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pinak Mishra.

A large number of protesters gathered in front of the Army office in the Cantonment in protest against the Agnipath scheme. They burnt tyres on the roads and shouted slogans. A 27-year-old man allegedly died by suicide in the Tentei village in the Soro police station area on Wednesday.

According to his family members, he had received the admit card for the CEE to be held on August 30 but was apprehensive that the examination will be canceled following the Centre's announcement of the Agnipath scheme. They also said that Mohanty lost his mental balance fearing his hard work had gone to waste.

Protesters clash with police in Rajasthan: Meanwhile, protests against the Agnipath scheme, continued for the second day in Rajasthan's Bharatpur districts where about 150 youths first staged a protest demonstration near the Red Cross Circle on the circular road in the Bharatpur town. When police drove them away from the spot, the protesters reached a nearby Railway station and blocked the tracks. The agitating youths allegedly pelted stones at the police when they tried to remove them from there. Police responded with a lathi charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the mob. According to sources, RPF has registered a case against the youth who created a nuisance on the railway track.

Protests erupt in Haryana: Protests against the Centre's Agnipath scheme raged for the second day in Haryana on Friday with protesters burning tyres on road and pelting stones at the police. According to sources in the State administration a section of protesters squatted on the railway tracks and blocked the Jind-Bathinda track.

While youths burned tyres in Rohtak, around 40 protesters were detained by police in the Ballabgarh for allegedly pelting stones at vehicles on National Highway 19. According to police the protesters, the majority of them were college students, raised slogans against the Agnipath scheme and resorted to stone-pelting near the Anaj Mandi area. Police said that mild lathicharge was used to disperse the protesters. They also said that a company of the Indian Reserve Battalion has been requisitioned from Rewari to maintain law and order.

In Palwal district over 100 people were booked by police for allegedly resorting to violence on Thursday. Police said that three separate FIRs have been lodged in relation to the violence. According to a police department spokesperson while 80 youths have been booked by their names and 950 are yet to be identified.

In the wake of the protests in Palwal, the State Government has suspended mobile internet and SMS services for 24 hours in Ballabhgarh area of Faridabad district as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the Haryana Government would give preference in jobs and other works to the youth who completed this service.

Protests in West Bengal: Protesters held a demonstration on railway tracks in West Bengal's North 24 Paraganas district against the Centre's Agnipath scheme disrupting rail services. An Eastern Railway official said that around 50 to 60 students blocked the tracks at Thakurnagar station from 7.50 am to 9.15 am. He also said that train services are now normal on the Sealdah-Bangaon route.

"The protestors held a demonstration against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme at the station for more than an hour, said a senior officer of Giaghata Police Station," said a senior officer of Giaghata Police Station. "They also made an attempt to march towards the residence of BJP MP and Union Minister of State for Shipping Shantanu Thakur," he added.

Roads blocked, PM's posters torn in Himachal: . Protesters blocked roads in Kullu and ripped apart posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Police took the miscreants into custody and released them later in the afternoon. The protesters gathered again at the Dhalpur Chowk and staged a road blockade which was given up after a fruitful talks with cops. Union Minister Anurag Thakur who was in Una to meet BJP workers witnessed the protests. He spoke to some of the protesters and explained the benefits of the scheme to them.

In Andhra Pradesh, security has been beefed up at all major railway stations in Andhra Pradesh in view of the protests and arson on railway coaches. Additional forces have been deployed at several railway stations including Guntur, Narasaraopet, Bapatla, Tirupati and Kadapa railway station. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the Centre should immediately rollback the Agnipath scheme. AAP MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha also slammed the Centre over the issue. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wondered "why is full time recruitment not being done in the armed forces? Are you (Centre) trying to say you don't have money for recruitment in the army, which protects our country? Youths join armed forces with a spirit to serve the nation. Why are you playing with their future and borders of the country?"