Rail passengers will have to bear with the inadequate amenities at the Secunderabad railway station for “some more time” as repairs to the infrastructure are still under way in the aftermath of vandalism and arson by mobs protesting against the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, said SCR Secunderabad division DRM A.K. Gupta.
Mobs on rampage had broken benches, around 100 CCTVs, fans, lights, escalators, lifts and kiosks on platforms 2,3,4 and 5. This is apart from burning parcel vans of the East Coast Express and Ajanta Express, damage caused to accident relief and medical vans and breaking glass panes of other trains at the station, he told mediapersons.
“We did not expect violence in our area though railway property in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states in the north were vandalised and burnt. We were expecting a peaceful protest and certainly were not ready for well prepared mobs armed with rods and sticks with the intention of causing large-scale damage,” he confessed.
