Agnipath protest: Train services suspended in Bihar today and tomorrow
Patna: Train services were stopped in Bihar till 8 pm on Saturday and will be suspended again between 4 am and 8 pm on Sunday as the state continues to boil under the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, media reports said.
A railway station was razed and some law enforcers were injured as the protesters tried to enforce the bandh, calling for a rollback of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of jawans.
More than 350 trains were burnt as armed forces aspirants were angry with the new programme even as the government announced new concessions and assurances.
The Home and Defence Ministries announced a new 10 percent quota each in jobs for 'Agnipath' recruits after their four-year tenure. The Ministry of Shipping also announced plans to induct Agniveers.
In Kerala, hundreds of young men took out huge protest rallies in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
A 24-year-old man died after security personnel opened fire at agitators in Secunderabad. Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao expressed shock and grief and announced Rs 25 lakh compensation to his family and also a government job for an eligible relative.
Train services in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal were disrupted for nearly one hour as protesters blocked railway tracks.
Protesters burnt a vehicle in Haryana's Mahendergarh railway station while over 50 agitators raided the Ludhiana railway station in Punjab, damaging property.
Calling the Agnipath scheme "directionless", Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi gave her complete support to all military job aspirants who are violent protesters.
Meanwhile, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday approved a proposal to reserve 10 percent of the job vacancies in the Ministry of Defence for Agniveers meeting requisite eligibility criteria, his office confirmed.
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