Amid the protests against the Centre`s Agnipath Scheme across the country, the vandalism incidents have led to the destruction of property worth Rs 200 crore, damage to around 50 train coaches and five engines that were completely burnt and are out of service, a railway official said on Saturday.
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"Vandalism incidents in railway premises have led to losses of over Rs 200 crore. Fifty coaches and five engines were completely burnt and went out of service," said Prabhat Kumar, the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) for the Danapur Rail Division. He further informed that Platforms, computers and various technical parts were damaged while some trains were also cancelled.
The protests against the scheme turned violent in parts of the country including Bihar. At least three trains were set ablaze on Thursday.
Meanwhile, students` organisations in Bihar, led by the All India Students` Association, have called a 24-hour Bihar bandh today demanding an immediate rollback of the new recruitment scheme in the military launched this week by the government.
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Protesters, earlier, allegedly attacked the houses of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi and Bihar BJP president and West Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal.
Apart from Bihar, railway traffic was also blocked and train coaches were set ablaze in several states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Telangana.
Train services were affected with the Railways cancelling over 200 trains so far.
Meanwhile, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Eastern Railway informed that due to ongoing agitation against Agnipath Scheme in East Central Railway jurisdiction, eight more trains including six originating from different cities of West Bengal and two originating from cities in Bihar have been cancelled today.
