Stones pelted on Vande Bharat train in Kerala, third incident this year
Unidentified thugs allegedly threw stones at the recently launched Vande Bharat Express train as it passed through an area between Thirunavaya and Tirur in this northern district of Kerala, according to the PTI news agency, on Monday.
The incident occurred around 5pm on Monday and railway officials alerted local police. Police said the train continued its journey to Thiruvananthapuram and no one was injured.
Speaking to PTI, police said: “We were warned by the railway officials. The investigation is ongoing to track down the miscreants.”
According to preliminary reports, the stones left small scratches on some of the train’s windows.
Earlier in January, stones were pelted at the Vande Bharat train in the Andhra Pradesh city of Visakhapatnam during maintenance. The window of a Vande Bharat Express bus was damaged near Kancharapalem in Visakhapatnam.
According to Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Anup Kumar Sethupati, “Some unknown persons pelted stones towards Vande Bharat train when it reached Visakhapatnam for maintenance and train ride. Stones were pelted on railway carriages as it went to coach care center for maintenance of Visakhapatnam station.
On March 12, an incident of stone bullets on the Vande Bharat Express train damaging windows of a carriage of the high-speed train was reported from West Bengal, Eastern Railway said in a statement as quoted by ANI.
The incident is said to have taken place near Farrakka in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
In January 2023, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) informed that two windows of the Vande Bharat Express train were damaged after stones were reportedly pelted on the two carriages near the Phansidewa area of Darjeeling district. This was the second attack, as earlier in the same month the windows of the Vande Bharat Express were broken when stones were thrown at the train connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri near Malda.
The RPF commander had informed that the incident took place near the Phansidewa area in Darjeeling district.
(With input from agencies)