A window pane of the newly launched Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express was damaged by miscreants who pelted stones near Davanagere on Saturday, according to South Western Railway (SWR) officials.
Officials confirmed that there were no injuries to the passengers in the incident. A senior official said that the incident happened after the train left from Davanagere at around 3.30 p.m. Railway Protection Force (RPF) has started investigating the matter, according to officials.
On June 28, Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express train was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually, and started its commercial operations the following day.
Earlier in February, two window panes of Chennai-Mysuru Vande Bharat Express (20607) were damaged after miscreants pelted stones on the moving train. The incident occurred between Krishnarajapuram and Bengaluru Cantonment Railway Station. No passengers were injured. This was the first Vande Bharat Express train in South India.
This incident had also led to the increase in patrolling of the areas where such stone throwing incidents were reported. This is not the first instance of stone pelting at Vande Bharat trains. Recently, such cases were reported in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Katihar district of Bihar.
“Pelting stones at trains is a non-bailable offence. As per Section 152 of the Railways Act, if any person throws stones at a train and such an act is likely to endanger the safety of passengers on the train, he shall be punishable with life imprisonment or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years,” a official said.
The SWR has appealed to the public and passengers to inform them about stone pelting incidents by contacting the toll-free helpline number 139.
