Muristek
Indore: Agnipath violence reaches city as protestors pelt stones, cops cane-charge, lob tear gas
Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
Protests over the Centre's Agnipath defence recruitment scheme turned violent on Friday morning after hundreds of protesters gathered on tracks near Laxmibai Nagar Railway Station and hurled stones at the police. Two policemen suffered minor injuries in stone pelting, while nearly 10 protesters were arrested including two minors, police said.They also damaged public property.
At Laxmibai Nagar, they were forcing the authorities to either stop or cancel some trains which forced the police to lob teargas shells to control the situation, officials said.
"Nearly 600 youths gathered in different groups on the tracks near Laxmibai Nagar railway station in the city, forcing the railway administration to stop a few trains," Indore police commissioner Harinarayanchari Mishra said.
When the protesters engaged in stone-throwing, police fired teargas shells and also resorted to cane-charge to disperse them and bring the situation under control, he said.
"Two policemen sustained minor injuries during the incident but no information of train passengers getting injured in stone-pelting has been received so far," the officer said.
A few protestors came on the track threatening to commit suicide. On seeing them on the tracks the train was stopped, after which a huge crowd gathered there and then the protest started. When police reached the place, the protestors started pelting stones at the police, said one of the eyewitnesses.
When the protesters were driven out from the Laxmibai Nagar, they blocked Bypass road and caused inconvenience in traffic flow. The police cane-charged the protesters and cleared the road for traffic.
2 trains delayed, 2 cancelledOwing to stone-pelting by protesters, 2 trains were delayed, while 2 had to be cancelled. Besides they also damaged railway property which is being accessed by the railway authorities. Rakesh Pawar, IPF, of RPF Indore, informed that the agitation of youths started at around 8.30 am continued till around 9.30 am. Khemraj Meena, PRO of Ratlam division, informed that due to protest train no. 22943 Daund (Pune)-Indore and 20413 Varanasi-Mahakal Express train was delayed by 30 and 45 minutes in reaching the city railway station. Mhow-Ratlam and Ratlam-Mhow were cancelled.
Alert in Mhow
In the Mhow cantonment area near Indore, the local administration has imposed section 144 under the CrPC, banning gathering of more than five persons at a spot, to prevent any untoward incident.
The cops have barricaded the roads leading to the Army Recruitment Center in Mhow and also other military establishments in the cantonment town.