Repeated attacks on Vande Bharat train: Why were jawans deployed on certain routes?

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Incidents of stone pelting on the Vande Bharat trains have been reported at many places in Kerala in the past few months. Now, a special team comprising the Railway Police and the RPF has been formed to probe these incidents. As per the numbers released by the Railways, Vande Bharat trains have been pelted with stones an average of every month. The latest incident was the pelting stones on the 20632 Vande Bharat Express from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangaluru between Kuttipuram and Thirunavaya. This incident happened around 9 pm, just before the train entered the Thirunavaya station in Malappuram. The glass pane of the C 4 coach was cracked as a result of it.
Meanwhile, the investigating team has identified the exact location of the incident by checking the train's CCTV visuals. They are now checking the CCTV visuals gathered from this place. The Vande Bharat trains have been pelted with stones multiple times within the Palakkad division.
Former incidents
The Railways take such incidents seriously as hefty sums are being spent to replace the glasses or repair the damage. In the stone pelting incident that happened at Thrissur in June last year, the glasses of two coaches were shattered. Last year, Vande Bharat trains were attacked between Kaniyapuram and Peringuzhi in Thiruvananthapuram in August, at Mahe railway station in October and Theekupuram near Kanhangad in November. Meanwhile, the police have been able to nab the culprits who hurled dumpsters on the train at Mahe.

The Railway is probing whether there is any unusual motive behind the continuous attacks on the Vande Bharat trains. There have also been incidents of stone pelting on other trains when the passengers were severely injured. Several incidents were reported from other parts of India, too, in which stones were hurled at the train, damaging coaches and window panes. A few of the notable incidents are the one in Karnataka in November last year, in Chhattisgarh in September last year, the attack in November in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh and the one in Maharashtra last month. Three window panes were broken just a few days before the train’s launch in the Durg- Visakhapatnam route.
Routes that deployed Jawans
After the incidents of stone pelting on the Delhi – Una Vande Bharat train in October last year, security personnel were deployed on the train and the place that reported problems was put under surveillance. Around 10 jawans of the RPF and the Government Railway Police were put on duty to avert untoward incidents. Similarly, around 40 RPF personnel and Railway Police were appointed in Bengaluru in March 2023 following stone pelting incidents. In 2023, various awareness programmes like ‘Operation Saathi’ were organised to educate people on the menace of the action. A helpline number of 139, which is integrated with the National Emergency No. 112, were also launched to assist passengers.