Agnipath scheme protest: Army job aspirants paralyse train movements in Bihar

PATNA: Thousands of job aspirants in the armed forces paralysed rail traffic movements for the second consecutive day on Thursday in protest against the new army recruitment ‘Agnipath’ scheme at different places falling under the jurisdiction of the East Central Railway (ECR).
The worst affected were Danapur, Samastipur and Sonepur divisions of the ECR as protestors squatted on railway tracks since early in the morning on Thursday. The protestors threw burnt tyres on railway tracks causing total disruption in rail traffic movements.

According to ECR chief public relations officer ( CPRO ) Birendra Kumar , protestors turned up in large numbers at Buxar and Ara stations where they paralysed train movements on both UP and Down lines from 8.25am to 12.18pm while agitators at Nawada on the Bakhtiyarpur - Rajgir – Tilaiya section of Danapur division blocked rail traffic movements from 8.30am and tracks were later cleared by RPF personnel after 12 pm to resume normal traffic movements on the route, he said adding protestors did not allow train movements for several hours at Makhdumpur, Gaya, Taregna, Tehta and Bela stations on the Patna - Gaya section of the division .
Under Samastipur division protestors blocked rail traffic movements completely on the Saharsa - Mansi route from 6.45am. At least nine passenger trains were detained by the agitators at Saharsa, Badlaghat, Dauram Madhepura and Supaul for three hours. On the Muzaffarpur- Narkatiaganj , Samastipur - Barauni routes protestors squatted on rail tracks at Bapudham Motihari, Dalsinghsarai, Samera, Sugauli, Majhauli, Muzaffarpur, Bachwara, Barauni, Kudhiram Bose and Doli after 9am in protest against new army recruitment scheme, CPRO said .
Protestors turned violent at several places in the Sonepur division of the ECR on the Barauni - Katihar section of the division. Half a dozen passenger trains were detained by the protestors on this section. However, tracks were cleared when a strong posse of RPF and local police reached the spot and pacified the agitated mob, CPRO said adding railways cancelled at least 22 passenger trains running on different sections of the division on Thursday due to widespread agitation by the army job aspirants.
Among the cancelled passenger trains were Bhabhua Road - Patna Express (13250) , Saharsa - Patna Express (12567 /12568), Manihari – Jayanagar Express (15383), Patna – DDU MEMU special (03203), Danapur – Raghunathpur MEMU special (03277/03278), Saharsa - Samastipur special (05243 , 05275, 05221 , 05278), Samastipur – Sonepur special (05511), Muzaffarpur – Narkatiaganj special (05257), Patna – Gaya special (03373), Gaya – Patna special (03340 , 03365 , 03338), Saharsa – Laheriasarai special (05547/ 05548), Muzaffarpur – Raxaul special (05287) and Jayanagar – Darbhanga special (05533/05534), CPRO said adding railways short terminated five other passenger trains at different stations due to protest on rail tracks.