Panipat (Haryana): Around four young men
were seen pelting stones at the Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi
Express that had Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on board, near
here, the train`s guard said.
"As the train was moving at a slow speed, the guard of
the train reported having seen three to four young men
throwing stones at the coaches," Rohtak Range IGP V Kamaraj said.
Window panes of five coaches of the Shatabdi Express
carrying 39-year-old Gandhi, who had boarded at Ludhiana, were
damaged in the stoning last night, including the one in which
the Congress leader was travelling. However, no one was hurt.
Kamraj said the guard told the police that the train was
moving at a slow speed near the Anaj Mandi of Gharaunda in
Karnal district due to some repair work on the tracks on the
Karnal-Panipat section.
A Northern Railway spokesman had said last night that
window panes of coaches -- C1, C2, C3, C4, C7 and C8 -- were
damaged when some children stoned the train. Gandhi was in the
C-3 compartment.
Kamaraj said the guard has also shouted at the young men
asking them not to pelt stones, but by then the window panes
of some bogies had already suffered damage. The guard, he
said, was in his cabin at the rear end of the train.
"The guard could not clearly see the faces of the
miscreants in the darkness," the IGP said.
Kamaraj said broken glass pieces and some stones found in
the train had been taken for forensic examination at the
Forensic Laboratory at Madhuban in Karnal district.
He said the Government Railway Police, Panipat has
registered a case under section 152 (damaging railway
property) of the Indian Railways Act against unidentified
persons. Under this section, the accused can get life
imprisonment if proved guilty in a court.
The IGP said he would not like to make any guess on the
identity of the persons who pelted the stones or go into the
reasons behind the incident as the police was proceeding in
the case in a scientific manner by exploring all angles.
Bureau Report
