T activists burn train bogie

KESAMUDRAM (WARANGAL): The second day of the bandh on Wednesday took a violent turn when pro-Telangana activists burnt a bogie of a passenger train between Kesamudram and Tallapusalapally stations in Warangal district. No passenger was injured.
A group of six unidentified protesters stopped the Manuguru passenger (train No. 358) by pulling the chain at Peddamori thanda, a hamlet of Rangapuram village, around 3.10 pm and set ablaze the S-3 bogie after making the 70-odd passengers to get down.Sources said the protesters got into the train at Kesamudram. The Manuguru passenger started at Kazipet around 2 pm.
Before torching the bogie, they asked all the passengers to disembark. "Once all the passengers got down, they poured petrol all over the reserved compartment and set it on fire. They immediately fled the spot," a passenger said. The bogie was gutted completely. Though the fire spread to the S-2 bogie, fire services personnel with the help of police, who reached the spot soon, doused the flames before they spread. Officials delinked the S-2 and S-4 compartments to minimise loss.
Rural SP Shahnawaz Qasim and other officials rushed to the spot. No case has been filed. When contacted, Kazipet railway inspector Ravikumar said they were waiting for more details on the incident. The agitators had allegedly removed fishplates of the railway track near Hasanaparthy on Tuesday, leading to disruption in movement of trains for some time.
It may be recalled that 25 passengers were charred to death when Gouthami Express caught fire near Kesamudram station on July 31 midnight in 2008.