Stones thrown on Vande Bharat Express near KR Puram; 6 windows damaged

This is the second instance of the prestigious train being pelted with stones in Karnataka

Six side windows of the Chennai-Mysuru Vande Bharat Express were damaged in stone-throwing in eastern Bengaluru on Saturday, officials said. There were no injuries.

South India's first Vande Bharat train (number 20607) had just left the KR Puram railway station and was moving towards Bengaluru Cantonment when a volley of stones hit its six panoramic windows in C4 and C5 coaches at around 10.30 am, according to the South Western Railway (SWR). Two of the windows corresponding to seat numbers 10-12 and 20-22 suffered extensive damage. The cost of repair will be substantial.

The train, which left the MGR Chennai station at 5.50 am, was on the way to its second stoppage at KSR Bengaluru when a group of miscreants targeted it. It was travelling at a speed of 90 kmph, and it's a miracle that the stones didn't pierce through its toughened glass windows, Kusuma Hariprasad, Additional Division Railway Manager (Administration), Bengaluru, told DH.

While schoolchildren, college-goers and slum dwellers have been found involved in such acts in the past, it's not clear who're the culprits in the latest case. The stone-throwing occurred just after the KR Puram railway station, and the area doesn't have any slums, she added. "We have increased patrolling in the area by deploying personnel from the GRP and the RPF. If necessary, we will rope in the local police, too," she said. "If young boys are found involved, we will counsel them and their parents."

Railway police have registered a case under sections 152, 147 and 154 of the Railways Act but no arrests have been made. The sections pertain to maliciously hurting or attempting to hurt railway passengers, trespassing on railway property, and negligence. Section 152 provides for life imprisonment.

Another official said that the incident didn't impact train operations.

According to Hariprasad, stone-throwing on Vande Bharat is a cause of "serious concern" because the train has come to symbolise modern India. "The repair will consume a lot of time and energy," she said. "If it was any other train, the stones would have seriously hurt the passengers."

This is the second incident of stone-throwing on the Vande Bharat Express, which was launched in November 2022 to connect Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. A railway official said that the first incident occurred about a month ago and they didn't report it because there wasn't much damage.

The Bengaluru railway division registered 21 cases of stone-throwing in January this year and 13 in the current month. Many of these incidents were reported from Lottegollahalli-Kodigehalli, Baiyappanahalli-Channasandra, Channasandra-Yelahanka, Chikkabanavar-Yeshwantpur sections and near KR Puram, Banaswadi, Carmelaram, Bengaluru Cantonment and Tumakuru.