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
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.
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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.
On monday, after only four days of launching, some anti-social elements pelted stones at the newly-launched Vande Bharat Express train near Malda's Kumarganj station in West Bengal.
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Window panes of the Howrah-bound train were shattered because of random stone pelting.
Four days ago, on December 30, 2022, PM Narendra Modi flagged off India's 7th Vande Bharat Express from Howrah en route to New Jalpaiguri Junction in the presence of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
Meanwhile, railway authorities have announced a thorough investigation into the whole incident.
(With PTI Inputs)
