Indore: Protests over the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme turned violent in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore on Friday morning after hundreds of protesters gathered on tracks near a railway station in the city and hurled stones, forcing the authorities to either stop or cancel some trains and also prompting the police to lob teargas shells to control the situation, officials said.
Two policemen suffered minor injuries in the incident, they said, adding that around 15 protesters were arrested.
“Nearly 600 youths gathered in different groups on the tracks near Laxmibai Nagar railway station in the city, forcing the railway administration to stop a few trains,” Indore police commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra told PTI.
When the protesters indulged in stone-pelting, police fired teargas shells and also cane-charged to disperse them and bring the situation under control, he said.
“Two policemen sustained minor injuries during the incident but no information of train passengers getting injured in the stone-pelting has been received so far,” he said.
Around 15 protesters were arrested and legal action against them was initiated, Mishra said.
Meanwhile, public relations officer of the Western Railway, Khemraj Meena, said the protestors stopped Daund-Indore (22943) and Varanasi-Indore Mahakal Express (20413) for 45 minutes.
The WR cancelled two DEMU (diesel electric multiple unit) trains after getting information about the protest, he said.
Meena also said that police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel are also deployed at different stations in the city in view of the protest.
On Thursday, nearly 150 youths had protested against the Agnipath scheme in Indore.
Protesters had pelted stones and set shops on fire near a railway station in Gwalior, due to which train operations were affected for some time on Thursday.
Protests against the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the defence forces are being witnessed in many states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
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