‘Not in West Bengal’: Didi says Vande Express stoned in Bihar, pans ‘fake news’

SILIGURI/KOLKATA: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday decried the “systematic defamation campaign” against her state over recent stone-pelting incidents on the newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express after three minor boys were picked up from Bihar’s Kishanganj.
The RPF and Bihar cops identified four minors and detained three from Kishanganj for pelting stones at the elite Howrah-NJP train on Tuesday — barely a week after its December 30 flag-off by PM Narendra Modi.
This was the second such incident in as many days with the first occurring in Bengal’s Malda district Monday. The train had a smooth run Thursday.

“The vandalism against the Vande Bharat Express did not take place in Bengal. Rail CCTV footage show the incident took place in Bihar. The law will take its course against those who deliberately spread fake news,” Banerjee said.
High-resolution CCTV cameras on the moving train captured the minors assembling and pelting stones at Mangurjan in Kishanganj, 1.5 to 2km from the Bengal border, rail and police officials said, adding a hunt is on for the fourth suspect.
Northeast Frontier Railway chief PRO Sabyasachi De said an FIR has been lodged by Bihar cops. “They (the boys) will be prosecuted under Section 152 of Railways Act, 1989, read with the Juvenile Justice Act of 2015,” De added.