Jabalpur:
Protesting against the Railway budget, hundreds of BJP activists on Friday torched an empty train, disrupted rail traffic and damaged property at the railway station in Jabalpur.
"Around 500 activists entered the station and set afire an engine of an empty train at platform number three, detained Patna-Pune Express for over an hour and damaged rail property," West Central Railway Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) Piyush Mathur said.
Police used batons to disperse the protesters who clashed with the security personnel, Government Railway Police (GRP) source said. Rail traffic was disrupted for more than an hour on the section.
Later, more than hundred protesters including BJP MP from Jabalpur Rakesh Singh courted arrest to protest against the rail budget. They were particularly unhappy with the budget provision under which the bi-weekly Garib Rath that runs between Jabalpur-Mumbai will now originate from Allahabad with only a halt at Jabalpur.
The exact loss of property due to the violence was being assessed, Mathur said.
Both the GRP and Railway Police Force (RPF) have registered cases against unidentified persons in connection with the violence.