Kapus Torch Train, More In Protests For BC Status

The Kapu movement for BC status and concomitant reservations in government jobs and educational institutions turned violent with thousands of agitators turning up at the Tuni railway station and setting fire to the Ratnachal Express on Sunday, amid more violence and arson.

At least four coaches of the train were completely damaged in the fire. Four railway officials who tried to pacify the agitators were injured grievously.

The panic-stricken passengers ran helter-skelter as the fire extended from coach to coach and no security personnel were at sight to come to their rescue. On seeing the frenzied agitators climbing atop the bogies, the train driver averted a bigger mishap by having the presence of mind to switch off the power supply.

The East Godavari police were caught unawares by the unexpected flare-up, and were quite short-staffed to handle the rampage. The agitators pushed away the police when they tried to disperse the crowds at the station, and tensions started rising by the moment. Several police officers were hurt, a couple of them grievously. As the situation turned unmanageable, the police officials requisitioned additional forces to calm down the agitators.

As a result of the incident, several trains running on the Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada route remained stranded, and some trains were running very late.

A simultaneous road roko resulted in the vehicular traffic on the Chennai-Kolkata National Highway also remaining paralysed for several kilometers, with the Kapu agitation leader Mudragada Padmanabham himself sitting on the highway with his vehicle, and thousands of agitators joining him.

Railway officials initiated talks with Padmanabham to call off the rail roko agitation keeping the hardship of the commuters in view.

The violence started after the Kapu Aikya Garjana convened by Padmanabham turned into a massive ruckus when he called upon the agitators to block roads and railway tracks until the community was granted BC reservations.