Bihar: 15 students held in train burning case

The Railway Police in Bihar have arrested 15 of the 26 individuals allegedly involved in setting four air-conditioned bogies of the Delhi-Patna Shramjivi Express on fire.

Deputy Inspector General Arvind Pandey told rediff.com in Patna that 15 students were arrested from Bihta, 35 km from Patna, after scanning video clippings of the incident.

"The arrested students have been sent to jail on the charge of setting the train on fire," he said.

Earlier, the GRP arrested Faiz Ahmad, one of the accused named in the case. Pandey said that GRP had identified 26 culprits involved in setting the train on fire with help of visuals provided by the television news channels.

"More students are likely to be arrested soon through the video clipping," he said.

Pandey made it clear that speedy trial would be conducted in the case.

After the arson at the Bihta railway station, two separate complaints were lodged with the Danapur GRP -- one by the Railway Protection Force and the other by the Deputy Station Superintendent at Bihta station -- against unidentified persons, railway police sources said.

On August 18, a group of students travelling without tickets got on an air-conditioned coach of Shramjivi Express at Arra and raised a ruckus when RPF personnel questioned their presence. They burnt four bogies of the Delhi-Patna train at Bihta, forcing petrified passengers to get down, baggage in tow, and flee.

The damage to the four bogies is estimated to be Rs 3.5 crore, a railway official said.

In Bihar, it has become a regular feature to damage or burn trains and disrupt traffic over local issues.

The Danapur-Buxar rail section and Danapur-Mokama rail section witnessed five train-burning incidents between June 1 and August 18. On the same day when the Shramjeevi Express was burnt, a mob of students set fire to a passenger train at the Lakhisarai railway station.

In the first incident on June 1, students torched four bogies of two trains at Khusrupur, 32 km east of Patna, after the railways withdrew a stop for the Shramjivi Express there. On July 14 local residents set ablaze an AC coach of the Kosi Express at Athamgola railway station.

Bihar Director General of Police Anand Shankar has directed Additional Director General (railways) A S Nimbram to set up separate control rooms for the railway police and also ordered increasing of patrolling on trains.