Unidentified persons pelted stones at a coach of the new Vande Bharat Express at the railway yard in Visakhapatnam, breaking a glass window. The Visakhapatnam police took three youths into custody in connection with the incident which took place on Wednesday night, January 1 and, according to the local Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP/ A N Murthy.

Preliminary investigation by the Railway Protection Force revealed that some youth playing near the coach complex at Kancharapalem mischievously pelted stones at the train resulting in the damage. Based on closed circuit television camera footage, the Visakhapatnam police nabbed the three youth from the area.

A rake of the Vande Bharat Express arrived in Visakhapatnam from Chennai on Wednesday for maintenance checks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to virtually flag off the high-speed train between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam on January 15. Upon its arrival in Visakhapatnam, the rake was moved to the new coach complex at Kancharapalem, where the stone pelting took place.

While the glass of a window was fully shattered, another suffered a minor crack, police sources said. The Visakhapatnam police also joined the railway police in investigating the incident. Security has been stepped up in the area following the incident, police added.

In a similar incident, a Vande Bharat express from West Bengal was pelted with stones on Sunday, January 8. Due to this incident, the train’s operations were disrupted for 10 minutes at Bolpur’s railway station. The incident took place before reaching Malda station after crossing Bolpur station. No casualties were reported. 

In the same week, on January 2, another stone pelting incident on the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express was reported from West Bengal’s Malda. This incident was recorded on a CCTV camera. Four people were seen throwing stones at the Vande Bharat Express. The glass door of a coach was damaged during the incident. West Bengal authorities initiated an investigation to nab the culprits.