BENGALURU: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has arrested a 36-year-old man for pelting stones on passing trains between Malur and Tyakal in the Bengaluru Railway Division on April 16. The miscreant, Abhijit Agarwal, has been held responsible for hurling a stone on the Vande Bharat Express between Mysuru and Chennai, which passed the spot a day earlier.
He is suspected to be of an unsound mind. Agrawal has been booked under sections 153 and 147 of the Railways Act and produced in the court of the Judicial Magistrate at Malur.
S K Thapa, Inspector, Passenger Services, RPF told TNIE, “My team and I in civilian clothes were patrolling the railway tracks when we saw this person ahead of us. He coolly picked up a bunch of jelly stones from the tracks and hurled it at a train passing by on Sunday at 3.43 pm. The train was the SMVB-Patna Humsafar Express (Train no. 22354). Two other trains including the Vande Bharat scheduled for the day were due to pass shortly. We nabbed him before that.”
The individual appeared to be in a depressed condition and was carrying a lot of food in his bag. “He told us he eats and sleeps on the railway tracks or stations only. He insisted that God gave him the command to throw stones at trains and this would fetch him food.” The person appears to be a regular stone pelter, he added.
Asked about the Vande Bharat incident, a railway source said that the stone was hurled at the body part of the train and there were no injuries or damage.
Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF, Devanshu Shukla told TNIE, “Due to the increase in incidents of stone pelting across the Bengaluru Division, we have reduced our three shifts to two. Cops have been put on 12-hr shifts with nearly 100 in each shift to maintain vigil. This has helped us nab him.”