BHUBANESWAR: Stones have been thrown at the Rourkela-Puri Vande Bharat Express, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) reported in a statement on Monday. On the other hand, it stated that no injuries were reported in the incident that happened on Sunday night in the Dhenkanal-Angul railway section between the stations of Meramandali and Budhapank. “Train number 20835 Vande Bharat Express has been targeted by some stone-pelters between Meramandali and Budhapank in the Dhenkanal-Angul railway section of the Bhubaneswar-Sambalpur rail line,” said the statement. According to a railway official, an executive class coach’s windowpane was broken, causing the train to arrive at Puri thirteen minutes later than scheduled.He said that a Railway Protection Force (RPF) official had reported the incident. He said that the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) have been notified by the security wing of ECoR, which has taken the situation seriously. The official stated that the local police have also been notified of the situation and that the stone-pelters will face severe consequences. He said that the ECoR’s security wing is working with the local police to identify the offenders. According to the official, the East Coast Railway regularly conducts awareness campaigns to urge people—especially those who live close to railway tracks—not to throw stones at trains. Similar reports of people throwing stones at Vande Bharat Express trains had surfaced earlier in the nation from different regions.
