Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Swarn Shatabdi Express by which Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi travelled from Ludhiana to New Delhi was stoned by miscreants on Tuesday evening near Panipat, Haryana.
The glass windows of C-2, C-4, C-7 bogies of Shatabdi Express had been damaged in the stone-throwing incident. One stone reportedly even fell inside a coach. There are no reports of any injury.
However, the window panes of Coach No. 3 in which the young Congress leader was travelling were not damaged, said police officials.
After the incident, the Special Protection Group (SPG), guarding the VIP passenger, had ordered the train to skip the scheduled stop at Panipat station.
The SPG personnel accompanying Rahul immediately searched the affected coaches and directed Railway authorities not to stop the train at Panipat junction.
“We are shocked, this was done on purpose. There were children in our coach they could have been badly hurt,” a woman passenger said.
While another passenger said, “This could have happened because of the VIP in the train. Maybe VIPs should stay away from doing such things.”
However, a police constable said that such incidents often take place on this route. “This has happened in the past,” he said.
The train reached New Delhi railway station a little after 2300 hours IST on Tuesday.
Haryana Police and Railway Protection Force personnel rushed to the spot where the stoning took place to investigate who was behind the attack.
Haryana is ruled by a Congress government led by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The state goes to assembly elections next month.
Rahul boarded the Swarn Shatabdi Express train for Delhi in an air-conditioned Chair Car instead of the plush Executive Class, a day after his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi flew economy class to Mumbai.
The 38-year-old Gandhi travelled to Ludhiana in coach C-3 amid tight security. But for the security surrounding him, he looked like any other passenger from the time he left New Delhi railway station at 0600 hours IST.
Gandhi was accompanied by SPG personnel who occupied all the seats around his seat.
Before the austerity measures came into place, Rahul would have flown in a private helicopter as there is no direct flight between New Delhi and Ludhiana.
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