Anti-CAA protesters torch railway stations in Bengal

Violence broke out in West Bengal on Friday against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) as also a possible NRC exercise in the state as protesters vandalised and set fire to railway stations, disrupting train services.

In Beldanga in Murshidabad district, a mob torched the station master's cabin and ransacked the ticket counter before setting it on fire.

The protesters, carrying posters against the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), vandalised the Beldanga railway station of Eastern Railway, forcing the railway employees to flee to save their lives.

They also blockaded the track, disrupting train movement between Lalgola and Krishnanagar.

Angry protesters also blocked the National Highway and burnt tyres in Beldanga.

In Howrah district, an angry mob barged into the Uluberia station and vandalised its premises as also some trains. A driver and a railway official were injured by stones pelted by the protesters, an official said.

The mob earlier blockaded the track, adversely hitting train movements on both up and down lines.

"Some people asked me to alight from the train as the train won't go. Then they dragged me out and ransacked the train," said the guard of the Howrah-Digha Kandari Express.

"It was a terrifying experience. They broke the window panes. We all ran helter skelter. There is no chance of any train movement in the next three to four hours," he said.IANS