RPF book 100 unidentified persons for blocking Vande Bharat
Efforts are underway to identify the culprits through videos available on social media, says RPF’s security control in charge
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has registered a case against 100 unidentified persons for blocking railway tracks and forcing the Ferozepur-Delhi Vande Bharat to stop for 30 minutes near Goneana Bhai Jagta railway station on Tuesday.
According to the information, no person has been held because the authorities are working to identify the hooligans.
Government railway police (GRP), a wing of the state police, hasn’t initiated any legal proceedings into the incident.
Officials of Bathinda district police said that the GRP had delayed sharing input on the railway blockade.
A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) from the district was rushed to Goneana to take stock of the situation after learning about the crisis from social media.
Bhucho DSP Pritpal Singh said on Wednesday that as per the information shared by the RPF, a central force mandated to safeguard the railway passengers, a first information report (FIR) has been lodged under sections 174 (a) (obstructing running of train by squatting or picketing) and 145 (causing nuisance) of the Indian Railways Act.
The case was registered at RPF railway station at Kotkapura in Faridkot district, on the complaint of the station master of Goneana Bhai Jagta, added the DSP.
As per the information, scores of commuters of Ferozepur-Bathinda, a short-distance train passenger train, came onto the tracks in protest yesterday, stating that the movement of the Vande Bharat delays the former train.
Videos of the train blockade went viral on social media, where the people were spotted raising slogans against the railway authorities, against frequent, prolonged stoppage of the passenger train to make way for Vande Bharat on the same route.
Railway sources said that it is a general practice under which the high-speed trains on the long routes are given priority to cross.
Security control in charge of RPF’s Ferozepur division, Ajay Kumar, said that the identity of the culprits is being examined from various videos available in the public domain.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has filed a case against 100 unidentified individuals for blocking tracks and delaying the Ferozepur-Delhi Vande Bharat train near Goneana Bhai Jagta station. No arrests have been made yet, as authorities identify the suspects. Protests arose over delays caused by prioritizing Vande Bharat over local trains, sparking public outrage.