Stone pelting on Netravathi Express near Kasaragod, no injuries reported

In the last one month, several incidents of stone pelting on trains have been recorded in Kerala. Till now, three persons have been arrested in this regard. In a fresh incident, stones were pelted on Netravathi Express near Kasaragod last night.

Kasaragod: In a yet another incident of stone pelting on trains in Kerala, the windowpanes of Mumbai-bound Netravathi Express were damaged near the Kumbala railway station last night, Railway police said on Saturday. No passenger was injured and the train continued its journey.

The incident took place at around 8.30 pm when the train was plying from Kumbala to Kasaragod. After Netravathi Express crossed Kumbala station, stones were reportedly pelted at it which hit the S2 coach. The windowpanes of the coach were damaged.

Fortunately, no passenger was injured in the incident. After which, RPF personnel and Kumbala police reached the spot. An investigation has been initiated in this regard.

Incidents of stone pelting are on a rise in northern Kerala for the last few weeks. Even as the police intensified vigilance to curb such attacks, fresh incidents broke out. The Railway authorities and police have initiated several steps to prevent such incidents.

To begin with, more police personnel have been deployed on the trains while CCTV cameras are being installed for surveillance along the railway tracks. Last month, several such incidents were recorded in Kerala.

Stones were pelted on Rajdhani and Vande Bharat Expresses on August 21. On August 15, stones were pelted on the Yeswantapura Express between Kozhikode and Kallai. On August 14, stone pelting incident took place on Duronto Express when it was running between Kannapuram and Papinissery while on August 13, stones were pelted at Mangalore-Chennai Superfast Express, Netravati Express and Okha Express.

The Railway Protection Force arrested three persons in connection with pelting of stones on trains at Kannur and Malappuram districts. One of the accused Saidees, a Mahe resident who pelted stones at Vande Bharat near Tanur, is in judicial custody.