Unidentified persons pelted stones at a coach of the new Vande Bharat train at the railway yard here breaking a glass window, police said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to virtually flag off the high-speed express train between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam on January 15.
Preliminary investigation by the Railway Protection Force revealed that some children playing near the coach complex at Kancharapalem mischievously pelted stones at the train on Wednesday night resulting in the damage.
The Visakhapatnam police have joined the RPF in investigating the incident.
A rake of the Vande Bharat train arrived in Visakhapatnam from Chennai on Wednesday for maintenance checks.
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Upon its arrival in Visakhapatnam, the rake was moved to the new coach complex at Kancharapalem, where the incident happened, police said.
While the glass of a window was fully shattered, another suffered a minor crack, they added.
A local police officer said they were searching for the persons who committed the crime. Security has been stepped up in the area following the incident, he added.
Stone pelting at Vande Bharat Express in West Bengal
Window panes of two coaches of the newly inaugurated Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express were on Tuesday damaged allegedly owing to stone pelting from outside in North Bengal, a railway official said here
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The incident took place a day after the down Vande Bharat express train from New Jalpaiguri faced a similar incident on Monday when the glass pane on a door of a coach suffered cracks owing to stone pelting.
One window pane each in two coaches of Vande Bharat express were damaged before the train reached New Jalpaiguri station on Tuesday afternoon, an official said.
While an FIR has been lodged over the incidents, an awareness campaign has also been started to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, the official said.
The stone pelting incident led to a polutical feud as the BJP demanded an NIA investigation.
"Unfortunate and sickening. Stones pelted at India's pride Vande Bharat Express in WB's Malda district.Is this revenge for 'Jai Shree Ram' chants on the Inaugural day? I urge @PMOIndia & @RailMinIndia to handover the probe to @NIA_India & punish the perpetrator (sic)," wrote Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express service was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30 and commercial services started on January one.
(With PTI Inputs)
