Uttar Pradesh: Agnipath flames reach Varanasi, Ballia

VARANASI: While the railway station was ransacked and a train was set on fire in Ballia, several buses were damaged in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday in protest against the newly introduced Agnipath recruitment scheme in the army.
The police forces were deployed at the railway stations and other places to disperse the gatherings and restore law and order.The North Eastern Railway (NER) cancelled 20 trains in view of the violent protest.

In protest against the Agnipath scheme, scores of youths reached Ballia railway station. Shouting slogans against the Central government, they pelted stones on trains and also indulged in arson. The station was ransacked by the protestors.
The railway officials along with Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) reached the spot after getting information and brought the situation under control. The police forces have been deployed at the station to disperse the crowd.

“After getting information of gatherings at Ballia railway station and stadium, senior police and administrative officials talked to the students and dispersed them,” said the Ballia SP Raj Karan Nayyar, adding that while returning some students tried to break the window panes and also set an empty isolated train. Continuous patrolling was being done in different areas to maintain law and order, he added.
In Varanasi, the angry mobs of youth reached Cantonment station to express their protest. They also indulged in stone pelting at the bus stand, in which over a dozen buses including new electric buses were damaged. Heavy police forces were deployed at the railway stations.

“The situation is under control here. There are some confusions that need to be dispelled, and we are trying to convince the youth not to get influenced by rumours. Only 3% recruitment will be done through Agniveer, while 97% recruitment is traditional and long term. We made an appeal to youth not to take to the street,” said the Varanasi Commissioner of Police, A Satish Ganesh. The law would take its own course if anyone tried to disturb law and order, said the CP, who himself was monitoring the situation by taking continuous rounds of the city.
The violent protest adversely affected the train movements. According to the NER spokesperson, Pankaj Kumar Singh, 20 trains were cancelled on Friday in view of the violent protest.