Patna: Protesting violently against the Central Government's 'Agnipath' plan to reinstate the army on contract for a brief period of four years, on Friday, for the third consecutive day, in various districts of Bihar, mainly targeting the railways, ransacked and arson.
Police sources said that the candidates of army recruitment have been protesting on the road and railway tracks since Friday morning against the Agnipath scheme. Due to this, traffic on the national highways and many rail sections has been affected. While many trains are parked at various stations, long queues of vehicles have been seen on the national highways.
According to East Central Railway (ECR), the protesting candidates torched trains at Samastipur and Lakhisarai. The protesters torched four coaches of the Vikramshila Express at Lakhisarai and the Delhi-bound Bihar Sampark Kranti Express at Samastipur while also damaging 10 bogies.
The protesters started a ruckus at Bihiya railway station in Bhojpur district on Ara-Buxar railway section from Friday morning itself. The protesters also set fire to the ticket counter and store room of Bihiya railway station.
In this incident, the police station in-charge of Bihiya, Ram Swaroop Ram, has suffered injuries on his leg.
According to the official release issued by ECR, 58 trains have been forced to wait at 15 stations of Dhanbad, Samastipur, Sonpur, Danapur and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Railway Divisions for the last several hours. Due to the protest, the railways has canceled the operation of 20 trains as a precaution, while 11 trains are being diverted.
Similarly, in about 19 districts of the state, candidates are protesting by taking to the streets.
The residence of Deputy CM Renu Devi, in Bettiah, is also attacked by agitators during the protest.
Similar is the condition in Ara, Buxar, Rohtas, Jehanabad, Arwal, Munger, Nawada, Nalanda, Gaya, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Supaul, Khagaria, Jamui, Bhagalpur, Sitamarhi and Vaishali where the candidates for recruitment in the army took to the streets in protest against the Modi government's Agnipath recruitment scheme. (UNI)
