Bihar’s Madhubani Railway station on Monday witnessed chaos as a large number of passengers heading to Maha Kumbh in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh broke the glass windows of the Swatantrata Senani Super Fast Express after they were unable to board the train. Videos of the incident show frustrated passengers throwing stones at the train and shattering the windows of the AC compartments, creating panic among those sitting inside.
As the train, which was travelling from Bihar’s Jainagar to New Delhi via Prayagraj, arrived at the Madhubani Railway station, a huge crowd of passengers were seen standing on the platform. Eyewitnesses said that the train was already packed inside, making it impossible for the doors to open.
According to officials, most of the passengers waiting outside and sitting inside the train were to get down at Prayagraj to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela.
A video shows two women sitting inside the train’s AC compartment when one of the passengers broke the glass window. The women can be heard screaming. Another shows the train’s broken windows as many people were recording the incident on their phones.
“I was going to Delhi with my family. They started breaking windows…everyone panicked. Even our children got scared and began shouting,” a passenger, Amarnath Jha, said.
He also said that there were no security arrangements by the railway authorities when the incident took place.
The train halted at the Madhubani station for an hour. It was later sent off without any repairs.
Many passengers who created the ruckus have also been detained by the railway authorities, officials said.
Stones were thrown at the Swatantrata Senani Express in Bihar’s Samastipur district on Thursday night. The train was travelling from Jainagar to Delhi on the Muzaffarpur-Samastipur line when it was attacked, causing panic among the passengers and minor damage to the train.
Some passengers were injured but treated at a hospital in Samastipur, while windows of the pantry car and coaches next to it were shattered. Stones were also thrown at sleeper coaches.
Samastipur Railway Police have filed a case, against ‘unknown people’, and are trying to track down the attackers. It is unclear why stones were thrown.
The incident occurred at Samastipur Railway Station’s outer signal; the train stopped briefly at the station, at around 8.45 pm, before leaving for Muzaffarpur. But as soon as it reached the outer signal the stone-pelting began. The attacked delayed the train by 45 minutes.
