Malappuram:The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has arrested a 19-year-old youth for allegedly pelting the Vande Bharat Express train with a stone. Rizwan, a native of Tanur here was arrested on Monday and then released on station bail.
The alleged incident of stone pelting took place on May 1 when the train was passing through an area between Thirunavaya and Tirur. Rizwan told the police that he had not thrown stones and was instead playing near the train tracks with a metallic object, which he was twirling around with his hands, and the same hit the train causing minor scratches on some window panes.
"If stones were pelted, the damage would have been more significant," an RPF officer told PTI. The RPF will submit a report regarding the investigation before the CJM court in Manjeri.
The BJP, meanwhile, came out against the police’s decision to grant the youth station bail. BJP state president K Surendran asked if the police were foolish to believe the youth’s claims.
“The police’s silly approach to the incident which happened after the Elathur train incident is not proper. There must have been political pressure on the police to protect the accused. It must be investigated if the accused has links with some radical outfits,” Surendran said.
He said the accused should be charged for destruction of public property.
