'Agnipath' protests turn violent in UP as protesters torch police outpost, trains, buses

Protests against the 'Agnipath' scheme which provided for short term recruitment in the armed forces turned violent in Uttar Pradesh with the protesters torching trains, buses and a police outpost on Friday.

According to reports, the protesters set ablaze Jattari police station in Aligarh district and also torched several police vehicles besides squatting on the busy roads disrupting movement of vehicles.

The situation in Jattari was stated to be tense as the protesters torched a panchayat building and also clashed with the cops. Sources said that shots were also fired by the protesters. As many as eight buses were set ablaze in Jattari.

A group of protesters torched a train in Ballia, police officials said, adding that attempts were also made to set ablaze railway tracks in Varanasi but the police were able to thwart it. Protests were also reported from Bulandshahar, Azamgarh, Firozabad, Mathura and some other places.

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Several long distance trains were either cancelled or suspended owing to the violence, sources said.

Additional director general of police , law and order, Prashant Kumar said that some organisations were trying to incite students. ''We have received inputs to this effect and are investigating it,'' he added.

In Gorakhpur, the home town of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, hundreds of youths hit the streets demanding scrapping of the new recruitment scheme and blocked traffic on the busy roads.

Adityanath, however, cautioned the youths against "falling into the trap" of the disruptive forces and said that those who were recruited under the scheme would be given preference by the state government in government jobs after their retirement.