AGRA: Railways on Monday expressed “helplessness” and sought local administration’s urgent help to “deal with the menace” after the country’s fastest train, Vande Bharat Express, was again pelted with stones at two places by unruly youths, leaving over a dozen windowpanes damaged and passengers shell-shocked.The attacks came hours after deputy inspector general (DIG) law and order Praveen Kumar issued an alert about miscreants pelting stones at the express train connecting Delhi to Varanasi.Both the attacks took place near Kanpur on Sunday. Fortunately, no passenger was hurt in the stone pelting, but most of them were scared and shocked.Soon after the incident, chief public relations officer of North Central Railway zone Gaurav Krishan Bansal said, “We are just helpless. We don’t understand why people are pelting stones at Vande Bharat Express. What kind of pleasure they derive by damaging the train. Local administration must help us find some solution to the menace.”The first stone pelting took place when the train was heading to Varanasi on Sunday morning. At 10:35 am, close to Sirsaul railway station, which is 23 km away from Kanpur city, seven to eight youths hurled stones at the train, damaging nine windowpanes of eight coaches.After the incident, the train staff alerted the control room, and local GRP and RPF squads were dispatched to the spot. Later, an FIR was lodged at Varanasi junction GRP based on a written complaint by the train’s pilot.Speaking with TOI, Ashok Kumar Dubey, station house officer (SHO) of GRP Varanasi junction, said, “Unknown men have been booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 336 (endangering life and safety of others).“The miscreants were also booked under section 150 (maliciously wrecking or attempting to wreck a train), 151 (damage to or destruction of certain railway properties) and 152 (maliciously hurting or attempting to hurt persons travelling by railway) of the Railways Act,” the SHO said, adding, “The zero FIR will now be transferred to Maharajpur police station of Kanpur district, as the incident occurred in their jurisdiction.”The train was again attacked with stones during its return journey near Sirsaul railway station around 6:20pm.Talking to TOI, Ramesh Kumar, pilot of Vande Bharat Express, said, “The train was again attacked with stones near Sirsaul in which three more windowpanes of C8 coach were damaged. Fortunately, no passenger or staff was injured as only outer windowpanes were broken.” The train got delayed for about 20 minutes at Kanpur central railway station due to the attack.Manishankar Mishra, SHO of Maharajpur, said, “We have detained three suspects and are questioning them for their involvement in the stone-pelting.”On Sunday, DIG (law and order) Praveen Kumar had issued an order, asking all district police and GRP to take preventive measures and ensure that no miscreant hurls stone at the train flagged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Since its launch, the engineless train has been attacked on five occasions.

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