Agnipath protests | Police fire in air to quell protests at Secunderabad station, three injured

The agitation against the Agnipath scheme turned violent after hundreds of recruitment aspirants went on rampage in Secunderabad, attacking railway property

Large-scale violence broke out at Secunderabad railway station on Friday morning after a mob of youth protesting the Agnipath scheme indulged in destructing railway property and set ablaze stationary bogies and booked parcel items.

The railway station and its surrounding areas resembled war zone with damaged vehicles and railway property. Several vehicles parked on the station premises also were damaged.

Police fired shots in the air to control the anti-Agnipath scheme protesters at the station resulting in injuries to at least three youth.

Preliminary reports suggested that at least 15 rounds were fired on the protesters to quell the mob. Television visuals showed some injured protesters collapsing on the platform and railway tracks being taken away by fellow agitators.

In what appeared to a meticulously planned act, hundreds of youth with their faces covered with handkerchiefs suddenly descended on the railway station and started ransacking the railway property. First they ransacked the food stalls and damaged the surveillance cameras installed on the premises.

Later a group of youth, claiming to be Army recruitment aspirants began to target the parcel booking items that arrived by some express trains. They threw the parcel items including booked two vehicles on the railway tracks and set them ablaze.

Platform 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 bore the brunt of the violence, which continues till reports last came in. Additional police forces were rushed to the station to bring the situation under control. The mob continued to throw stones and went on rampage setting afire the trains on platforms.