Hundreds of protesters blocked the railway tracks at Nallasopara and Virar on Saturday morning to condemn the terrorist attack in Pulwama that killed over 40 CRPF jawans. Suburban and long-distance train services were affected for around four hours due to the protest.
According to officials of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) there were more than 500 protesters. The crowd started gathering around 8 a.m., and the tracks were cleared by noon.
Preeti Bahot, a commuter from Nallasopara, had to wait for hours for a train. “I reached the station by 8 a.m., as I do every day. I had no clue about the protest, which started around the same time,” she said. Ms. Bahot, who works in Churchgate, said protesters initially also pelted stones, before women on board a local train told them to stop. “The crowd kept increasing and there were easily more than a thousand people at the station. As nobody knew about the protest, commuters kept coming,” she said.
Lathi charge
Security staff had to resort to lathi charge to clear the crowd. “There was no headway for over three hours, despite a dialogue with protesters,” a senior official said.
“We are registering cases against the protesters for unlawful assembly and rioting. We will use video footage to identify those behind this,” Purushottam Karad, Deputy Commissioner of Police, GRP (Western), said.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Vasai, Vijaykant Sagar said the situation was brought under control around noon. “We appeal to people to protest peacefully over the martyrdom of our jawans and urge protesters not to inconvenience others or create a law and order situation,” he said.
Rage and fury: Hundreds of protesters block the railway tracks at Nallasopara station to vent their anger over the Pulwama terror attack, on Saturday. (Right) Police lathi charge protesters to clear the tracks after the rail roko continued for nearly four hours.
With protesters blocking all four tracks, several train services were cancelled. Commuters stranded on trains mid-section were forced to walk on the tracks. Passengers expressed their plight on social media.
Western Railway (WR) could operate local services only between Churchgate and Vasai. Trains resumed a little after noon, but the backlog forced WR to cancel several trips. In all, WR had to cancel 54 services through the day, and morning services ran around 20 minutes late. Several long-distance trains, such as Vivek Express which runs between Bandra Terminus and Jammu Tawi, were delayed, while others were short terminated in Borivali and Palghar.
