Lucknow: Protest against union government's Agnipath Scheme turned violent in Uttar Pradesh on Friday as agitated youths torched trains, railway station, toll booth, party office and buses indulging in widespread arson, vandalism and stone-pelting while also blocking several national highways.
In a bid to disperse the mob, police used force, cane charged protestors and fired tear gas shells at some places. Several protesters are said to have been detained, but it was not confirmed by the authorities.
There were reports of violence, arson in Ballia, Barabanki, Agra, Mathura, Firozabad, Amethi, Aligarh, Varanasi, Deoria, Kushinagar, Etah, Unnao and Rae Bareli where protesters staged angry demonstrations demanding revoking Agnipath scheme and restoring regular recruitment process to defence services.
"At the railway station the mob vandalised Ballia-Varanasi Memu and Ballia-Shahganj. They also targeted kiosks on the platform and a private bus," the police said.
Police sources said that in a bid to disperse the mob, the police used mild force. "Some youths torched a coach of an isolated train. As the train was parked in the washing area no major loss was caused and the fire was controlled by Railway Protection Force, police and the fire tenders," they said.
There were reports of stone pelting and disturbances from other parts of the city. District Magistrate Soumya Agarwal said police was deployed since early morning to apprehend mischief elements. She said that some unruly youths came and attempted to pelt stones, but the attempt was foiled.
Similarly in Malpura area in Agra district, youths blocked the Agra-Gwalior highway which led to traffic jams on both the sides.
Protesters also damaged the railing of the divider and when police made an attempt to disperse them they indulged in heavy stone pelting damaging police vehicles. The police used force and fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob.
Protests continued at different places in Mathura, including Kosi Kalan and Chhata where youths blocked national highways.
In Chhata the youths also blocked the railway track and Jan Shatabdi Express from Kota to Hazrat Nizamuddin and the train was delayed by 20 minutes.
In Mathura city, agitators blocked Agra-Delhi highway and indulged in stone pelting near an ATV factory after which the police cane charged the protestors. In Aligarh, a roadways bus was torched by the protestors.
In Varanasi, violent protests broke out in the Cantt area on Friday morning during which state roadways buses were vandalised. The protestors also squatted on the railway tracks. In a bid to control the situation, the police resorted to tear gas shells.
Inspector of Sigra police station and four constables were injured in stone pelting. Heavy police force and PAC personnel were called to control the situation. Around 12 protesters have been taken into custody by the police.
In Amethi the youths blocked Amethi-Pratapgarh road and staged a dharna. Later, they reached the railway station and squatted on the tracks. District Magistrate Kumar Mishra and Superintendent of Police Dinesh Singh reached the spot and pacified the protestors. (UNI)