Men pelt stones at Vande Bharat in UP's Ayodhya

A group of people pelted stones at the Vande Bharat Express near here on Tuesday, cracking its windowpanes as they vented their anger days after the train mowed down a herd of goats, police said. Three men have been arrested in this regard, they said. “The windowpanes of two coaches of the Vande Bharat Express were partially damaged as it passed through Sohawal area of Raunahi police station area here around 9 am on Tuesday,” Inspector of Railway Protection Force (RPF) Sonu Kumar Singh said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the train connecting Gorakhpur and Lucknow on July 7.

Singh said the information about the incident was passed to Ayodhya Cantt RPF post. The train, however, continued its onward journey till Lucknow, he said. Speaking about the incident, SSP (Ayodhya) R K Nayyar noted, “It was found during investigation that on Sunday, a herd of goats belonging to one Nanhu Paswan were killed after being hit by the Vande Bharat train while they were grazing on the railway track. So, Paswan and his associates targeted the train.” “We have arrested Paswan and his sons Ajay and Vijay in this connection,” he said.