HINGOLI: Passengers staged a protest at Maharashtra's Hingoli railway station, halting a Jodhpur-Hyderabad train for more than two hours on Thursday over allegations that RPF personnel assaulted a youth and misbehaved with his women co-travellers, officials said.
The alleged incident occurred aboard the Bhagat Ki Kothi-Kacheguda Express (Train No. 17606) after it crossed Washim, located about 40 km from Hingoli, in the early hours of Thursday.
Some passengers, followers of Dr BR Ambedkar, were returning from Nagpur after attending a Dussehra event. They boarded the train at Akola for Nanded, but one of their companions, a teenager, allegedly entered a reserved coach by mistake.
The protesters alleged that the youth was assaulted by some passengers and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel. When women travelling with the group tried to intervene, they were allegedly pushed and misbehaved with, while other members of the group were also assaulted.
When the train reached Hingoli station, the agitated passengers got off and sat on the railway tracks in front of the train's engine and raised slogans against the railway personnel, and preventing the train from moving.
The train was delayed by more than two hours due to the protest.
The Hingoli town police reached the station and intervened to defuse the situation. The protest was withdrawn after the police assured the protesters that their complaint would be investigated, following which the train resumed its journey, an official said.