Police on Friday detained three youths from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh on the charge of hurling stones at the New Delhi-bound Swarn Shatabdi Express, in which RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was travelling.
Such incidents are not uncommon between Kanpur and Tundla. The stone-pelting happened near Makhanpur station in Firozabad district around 7.30pm on Thursday. A big stone smashed a glass window of the executive-class coach in which the RSS sarsanghchalak was travelling.
The train was not stopped because nobody was hurt. The Railway Protection Force filed a case against unidentified criminals at Tundla junction and at a police station in Firozabad.
Suvendra Kumar Bhagat, additional director-general of police, said: “The stone damaged the outer glass of the window of the E-1 coach. The inner glass was intact. We are interrogating three people and hope to arrest the accused soon.”
Sources in the police said Bhagwat was seated in seat no. 40, while the window of seat no. 50 was damaged. The three detained youths have been identified with the help of CCTV footage from cameras in nearby areas.
Aditya Langeh, senior superintendent of police of Firozabad, said: “The Railway Protection Force filed a case at Rasulpur police station and three persons were identified with the help of about 150 CCTV cameras. We are interrogating them to understand the motive of
the crime.”
Bhagwat had come to Kanpur on Wednesday to attend a wedding and was returning to New Delhi the next day. The train had started from Lucknow at 3.30pm. The RSS chief enjoys Z-plus security.