Secunderabad Railway Station limping back to normalcy

Hyderabad: After the Agnipath violence that rocked the Secunderabad station on Friday claiming a life of a protestor, injuring many and the damaged that was caused to the trains and the public vehicles, the train services at Secunderabad Railway Station have resumed, informed a senior official of the South Central Railway said on Saturday.

It is to mention here that D Rakesh, a 24-year-old Army aspirant from Warangal district, died and several others were injured after security personnel opened fire on hundreds of agitators at the Secunderabad railway station as the protests against the Centre's new Agnipath military recruitment scheme escalated into large-scale violence and arson.

Violence and protests marred the station blocking rail services causing inconvenience to passengers for several hours. Train operations originating from the station were cancelled or partially cancelled and they resumed subsequently later in the evening.

Additional Director General of Police (Railways) Sandeep Shandilya informed that the situation at Secunderabad station is peaceful and the police continue to deploy addition forces to thwart any untoward incident.

"Situation is normal at the station. We saw some problem at Mahabubnagar railway station. Overall, railway stations in Telangana are fine," the police officer said.

A senior South Central Railway official said train services resumed from the station at 8 pm on Friday and are normal now.

He said security was stepped up in and around the station and passengers with valid tickets are only allowed to enter the station premises.

In a latenight statement on Friday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced Rs 25 lakh as ex-gratia to the family of Rakesh and a government job based on qualification to one of the family members.

Meanwhile, TRS cadre and leaders of Narsampet gave a bandh call in the Assembly constituency limits in protest against the death of Rakesh who belonged the area.

It is to mention here that on Saturday One of the biggest railway stations in the country, Secunderabad was rocked by violence as the youth went on rampage, setting fire to trains and vandalising the station in protest against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme.

The railway authorities allege that there was a total failure on the part of intelligence which led to mob violence. The agitators had set four coaches on fire and caused immense problems to the passengers some of whom had to break the windowpanes and jump out as the mob had set on fire an AC coach which had passengers on board.

Railway DRM Abhay Kumar Gupta estimated the loss at Rs 7 crore. He said there was no damage to the signalling system or electric lines which helped them re-start the operations within an hour of police clearing the platforms.

He said around 18 express and nine passenger trains were cancelled. In addition, 65 MMTS, metro train services and TSRTC bus services were cancelled.

The violence and arson unleashed by protestors appeared to be a well-planned incident. It is learnt that the alleged rioters had formed WhatsApp groups to execute their action plan at the railway station in advance.

The protestors arrived at the railway station on Thursday night and conducted a recce. They came from different districts mainly from Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak, Nalgonda and even Kurnool to stage a dharna against the Agnipath scheme. According to eyewitnesses, more than 1,000 youth began the protest around 9 am with a sit-in near the railway station. First, they raised slogans demanding the cancellation of Agnipath scheme and attacked the buses. Then they entered the platform without anyone stopping them as there are many entry points and with no presence of the police.

The railway police were outnumbered by the protesters. The situation escalated with protesters going on a rampage, setting coaches and several stalls on fire, blocking railway tracks with two-wheelers, wooden boxes, garbage cans, gunny bags and wheelbarrows of railway porters, and stealing goods kept in the parcel office. To quell the arson, the railway police opened fire. One of the agitators died on the spot while 16 suffered injuries and were admitted to Gandhi hospital.

Protesters also damaged offices on Platform Nos 1 and 10, ransacked computers and electronics, destroyed CCTV cameras, lights and fans on all 10 platforms.

Passengers heaved a sigh of relief when the authorities in the evening announced 'Operation All Clear' and restored train services amidst heavy police bandobust.