Stones Thrown At Swatantra Express In Bihar, Some Passengers Hurt

Stones were thrown at the Swatantrata Senani Express in Bihar's Samastipur district on Thursday night. The train was travelling from Jainagar to Delhi on the Muzaffarpur-Samastipur line when it was attacked, causing panic among the passengers and minor damage to the train.

Some passengers were injured but treated at a hospital in Samastipur, while windows of the pantry car and coaches next to it were shattered. Stones were also thrown at sleeper coaches.

Samastipur Railway Police have filed a case, against 'unknown people', and are trying to track down the attackers. It is unclear why stones were thrown.

The incident occurred at Samastipur Railway Station's outer signal; the train stopped briefly at the station, at around 8.45 pm, before leaving for Muzaffarpur. But as soon as it reached the outer signal the stone-pelting began. The attacked delayed the train by 45 minutes.

There was an escort party of GRP, or Government Railway Police, personnel on board.

Incidentally, last week a major disaster involving this train - on the Delhi-Jainagar route - was narrowly averted after it hit a wooden block placed on the track near Rajdepur in Ghazipur. The block damaged part of the engine, forcing the train to be halted as a precaution.

A new engine had to be brought from Aurihar Railway Station. Reports indicate the train was delayed by nearly three hours. This happened early morning, around 3 am, local media said.

A police case has been filed.

There are also reports of stones being thrown at the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani that was travelling on the same track, but ahead of the Swatantrata Senani Express.

This has not been confirmed as yet.