In a backlash against attacks on north Indians by activists of Raj Thackeray's MNS in Mumbai, angry students in Bihar torched a train, vandalised railway stations and blocked rail movement, prompting police to fire in air.Hundreds of protesters descended on the Barh railway station in rural Patna demanding that Thackeray be tried for sedition and set ablaze an AC coach of the Danapur-Durg South Bihar Express, said Superintendent of Railway Police (Patna) D N Gupta.The fire soon spread to adjoining sleeper coaches, but no one was injured. "Five coaches of the train have been set on fire on the station. All passengers are safe," Chief PRO of Eastern Railways A K Chandra said.Government Railway Police, Railway Protection Force and armed police baton-charged the mob, which soon dispersed. Violence spread to other parts of the state including Sasaram, the headquarters of Rohtas district, where police fired three rounds in the air to quell a group of stone-pelting students, who blocked the tracks since 5 AM, informed Superintendent of Police Vikas Vaibhav.The agitators detached the engine of the Gaya-Patna passenger train at Jehanabad and smashed the window panes of a ticket counter on the platform. They also obstructed train traffic and blocked the road in front of the railway station.District Magistrate Sanjay Agarwal and Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj failed to persuade the agitators to call off their stir and ordered a batoncharge to disperse them after trains were held up for more than three hours.The protesters ransacked the Nawada railway station, damaging furniture and set a generator on fire. Thackeray was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the attacks on north India candidates during a railway recruitment exam on October 19 in Mumbai to protest against "inadequate representation" to locals. Trains passing through Mumbai affectedService of the Central Railway was disrupted for some time when miscreants attempted to block tracks using a cement sleeper near Kalyan station, railway officials said."Some miscreants attempted to stop services by putting a cement sleeper on the track but it was removed and services are operational," Chief Public Relations Officer Shriniwas Mudgerikar said.Services were affected for about 10 minutes between 1240 and 1250 hours at Kalyan but had resumed after the obstruction was cleared, he said, adding that services were normal now.Arrested MNS leader Raj Thackeray has been at the Manpada police station in Dombivali since last night after he was arrested for his alleged involvement in the attack by MNS activists on north Indian candidates appearing in railway recruitment exams in Maharashtra.Most suburban lines at railway stations on Western and Central Railways were put on high security to prevent disruption by MNS activists.
