Violent protest against the newly formed Agnipath recruitment policy in the army has engulfed most districts in Uttar Pradesh.
On Friday, the traffic on two prominent expressways was blocked by angry protestors, and over a dozen trains were cancelled after trains and buses were set on fire at a few places in the state. Mob also attacked policemen in which a police officer was hurt.
Railways have cancelled 12 trains passing through UP due to the agitation of students and youths. Most of these trains are en route to Varanasi where youths have been staging a protest on rail tracks.
According to the Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, the trains have been cancelled for Friday only and they would run as usual from Saturday.
In the eastern UP, students have been creating ruckus in Balia, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Gazipur districts for the last two days.
On Friday morning, the irate mob of youths set ablaze a train in Balia while platform number 10 at Varanasi Cantt railway station was ransacked. Several roadways and buses were also damaged in Varanasi.
In Western UP, the angry mob of youths set ablaze a police outpost in Tappal, Aligarh and attacked a police circle officer of Khair area, Rakesh Sisodiya.
In Mathura, youths pelted stones at the vehicles moving on the Yamuna expressway and traffic was blocked for about an hour. The traffic was also blocked in Firozabad at the Agra-Lucknow expressway for four hours.
The angry mob damaged four roadways buses in this area.
Additional Director General (ADG), Law & Order, Prashant Kumar, said that there have been sporadic incidents of violence in a few districts. He said that the administration is trying to pacify the agitated youths. "The Sainik Kalyan Board and people’s representatives have been talking to youths to calm them down," added Kumar.
