With the protests against the Centre's military recruitment scheme 'Agnipath' turning violent, train services in Bihar will remain temporarily suspended from 8 pm on June 18, reports said.
The services will be snapped from 8 pm to 4 am for the next two days, till June 20, NDTV reported. An official statement was awaited at the time of writing this report.
The suspension of rail services was reported against the backdrop of protesters setting train coaches on fire in Danapur Rail Division of Bihar. The arson and vandalism have led to a loss of around Rs 200 crore, officials said.
"Vandalism incidents in railway premises have led to losses of over Rs 200 crore, 50 coaches and five engines completely burnt and went out of service. Platforms, computers and various technical parts were damaged. Some trains were cancelled," Prabhat Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager of Danapur division told news agency ANI.
Bihar has witnessed protests for four consecutive days since June 15, when the Centre had unveiled the Agnipath scheme. While the Railways has borne the maximum brunt of the protest in the state, the agitators, earlier today, also torched vehicles parked on the premises of a police outpost in Jehanabad district, the Press Trust of India reported.
Explained | The Agnipath scheme and why people are protesting against it
The state government has already suspended internet services in 12 districts - Kaimur, Bhojpur, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Buxar, Nawada, West Champaran, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Vaishali and Saran - till June 19 in a bid to quell the violent protests.
The Agnipath policy, which was announced following a two-year suspension in temporary military recruitments, triggered a row as it proposes to recruit soldiers for a period of four years instead of 17 at present. Following the completion of their term, only 25 percent of the recruits will be retained.
The retiring soldiers will not be eligible for pension benefits, but will be provided with an amount of Rs 11.71 lakh as the 'Seva Nidhi Package’ and it will be exempted from income tax.
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