Bharat Bandh LIVE Updates: Railways cancels 612 trains due to disruptions by protesters

The three service chiefs are likely to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi separately on Tuesday to brief him about the Agnipath scheme as well as their plan for its implementation.The meetings are being planned amid widespread protests in several states against the new military recruitment scheme.It is learnt that the chiefs would apprise the prime minister about various aspects of implementation of the scheme.There was no official word about the meetings between the prime minister and the service chiefs.

Patna Police conducted raids in Patna at various locations connected to Bihar's Danapur violence accused Guru Rahman, officials informed on Monday.The searches were made at Rahman's residence and his coaching centre in Patna.The raids were initiated after a video went viral on June 17 in which Rahman was allegedly seen instigating the students through his words regarding the Agnipath military recruitment scheme and inciting them to stop trains and protest furiously.An FIR was registered against Guru Rehman at Danapur police station after this.

Farmers' collective Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday dubbed Agnipath as another ploy to harm peasants and announced a nationwide protest on June 24 against the Centre's new military recruitment scheme. "the Samyukta Kisan Morcha will observe protest day across the country on this Friday, June 24. This decision was taken by the seven-member coordination committee of SKM in its meeting held in Karnal (Haryana) today,” according to a statement.The protest will be held at all district and tehsil headquarters and a memorandum addressed to President Ramnath Kovind will be handed over on Friday, the SKM said.The farmer's body also attacked the BJP-led government, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started his victory campaign by rallying support on the promise of 'One Rank One Pension' but has 'now rolled out "the new 'No Rank No Pension' scheme".

Heavy deployment of police remained in place on Monday across Bihar in view of the 'Bharat bandh' against Agnipath scheme of defence recruitment, although the shutdown call received a tepid response in the state.Additional Director General of Police, Headquarters, J S Gangwar said that "detailed and elaborate security arrangements" were in place at all vital installations, including railway premises, and "no untoward incident took place during the Bharat bandh". Shops and offices remained open and bandh supporters were prevented by police personnel from enforcing the shutdown.Demonstrations were staged by student bodies at various places in protest against the new scheme of recruitment for four years followed by retirement, without pension, for 75 per cent of the candidates.None of these protests, however, turned violent.

The youth who took part in the violent protests against Agnipath scheme would not find a place in the armed forces, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shobha Karandlaje said on Monday. She said those who indulged in violence are not patriotic. Unnecessary controversy is being created over the scheme as in the case of the farm laws and it is part of a conspiracy, Karandlaje alleged.

The Haryana government on Monday ordered the closure of all private coaching institutions in Mahendragarh and Jhajjar districts with the protests against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme getting intense. Jhajjar Deputy Commissioner Shakti Singh ordered closure of all private coaching centres and academies till further orders and imposed Section 144 in the district.Officials suspect the role of private employment and coaching centres in instigating the youth to protest against the government scheme.

Over 550 trains were cancelled on Monday with operations again disrupted by protests against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme.Of the 597 trains affected, 587 trains were cancelled, including 208 mail and express trains and 379 passengers trains, the Railways said in a statement.Four mail and express trains were partially cancelled.The worst-affected zone was the East Central Railway, which is headquartered at Hajipur and comprises Sonpur, Samastipur, Danapur, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, and Dhanbad divisions.In this zone, around 350 trains remain cancelled, including those that pass through it.

Road and rail traffic was partially affected in some regions on Monday during a 'Bharat bandh' called against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, while protests appeared to taper off in many states, with authorities stepping up security and imposing curbs after days of unrest. Authorities said that the bandh call was given on social media and did not name the organisations behind it.

The chiefs of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force are scheduled to separately meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 21 and would brief him on the Agnipath recruitment scheme. The Agnipath scheme was launched last week and following protests, the central government has announced several support measures in the last few days to allay apprehensions surrounding the new recruitment scheme into the armed forces. The Union Cabinet had also approved the scheme on June 14.

Protests against 'Agnipath' rocked Jammu city on Monday with the Congress, the AAP and some other organisations demanding the government to revoke the military recruitment scheme, prompting police to detain several members for blocking highways, officials said. Hundreds of youth Congress activists assembled in the city and took out a protest rally against Agnipath but were stopped by the police. Over a dozen activists were detained by the police.

Commuters from Noida and Gurugram were left hassled as they battled traffic snarls while driving into the city whereas inside the capital, Lutyens' Delhi, which was the epicentre of protests, remained chock-a-block.While the call for Bharat Bandh by some organisations choked traffic on several arterial roads, no impact was seen in the city's markets where it was business as usual.Videos of long queues of vehicles at Delhi's borders emerged on social media while several commuters also took to Twitter to share their woes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that some of the initiatives of the government may seem to be bitter today, but they will bear fruits tomorrow.Addressing a massive rally in Bengaluru after several inaugurations, foundation laying and dedication programmes, Prime Minister Modi said, "Few of our initiatives might seem to be bitter in the present times. But, they will bear fruits in the coming days."