In another incident involving a Vande Bharat Express, stones were thrown at the train during its trial run, leading to the arrest of five individuals in Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh, officials said on Saturday.
One of the accused has a relative who is a member of a political party, according to reports.
The incident occurred just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to flag off the newest Vande Bharat train on Monday, the day before his 74th birthday. This train will connect Durg in Chhattisgarh with Visakhapatnam (Vizag) in Andhra Pradesh.
“The train was passing through Bagbahra railway station on its way back from Visakhapatnam to Durg during its trial run around 9 p.m. on Friday,” said Praveen Singh Dhakad of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), as reported by PTI. “Some anti-social elements threw stones, damaging the window panes of coaches C2, C4, and C9. Fortunately, no one was injured,” he added.
An RPF escort team, led by an assistant sub-inspector, immediately alerted authorities, prompting security personnel to be dispatched to the scene.
The five arrested individuals, identified as Shiv Kumar Baghel, Devendra Chandrakar, Jitu Tandi, Lekhraj Sonwani, and Arjun Yadav, are all residents of Bagbahra. According to officials, Baghel’s sister-in-law is a corporator from the opposition Congress party in Chhattisgarh.
The group has been charged under Section 153 of the Railways Act, 1989, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison for endangering the safety of a person on a railway through intentional acts or negligence.
