Bootleggers suspected as shots fired at Seemanchal Express train in Bhojpur

Ara: An FIR has been lodged with the Ara Mufassil police station following stone pelting and three to four rounds of firing at the Seemanchal Express (12488) in the wee hours of Sunday in Bhojpur district. The case has been registered on the statement of an RPF jawan, Sanjeev Kumar, who was part of the escort party on the train when the incident took place.

The incident occurred between Jamira halt and Chaliswa bridge under the jurisdiction of Ara Mufassil police station. The Seemanchal Express was on way to Jogbani from Anand Vihar terminal when it came under attack by around a dozen unknown miscreants.


According to the police, the miscreants first resorted to chain pulling, forcing the train to stop. When RPF personnel alighted to inquire into the matter, the attackers allegedly began pelting stones and fired three to four rounds. However, when the RPF personnel confronted and chased them, the miscreants fled from the spot.

No injuries were reported in the incident. However, the windowpane of a general compartment of the express train was smashed due to the stone pelting.

“An FIR against 10 to 12 unknown miscreants has been registered in the case pertaining to the stone pelting and firing at the Seemanchal Express train. The chain pulling was done by the miscreants at a place from where the nearest village is about two km away. It makes the motive of the miscreants a bit baffling. However, the police have identified some suspects and they will be apprehended and interrogated,” said Deepak Kumar, station house officer of Ara Mufassil police station.

According to the police, illicit liquor smugglers are the prime suspects in the case.

“The Seemanchal Express train has no stoppage between Dildarnagar station in Uttar Pradesh, where there is no prohibition, and Danapur in Bihar. So the liquor smugglers might have planned to get off the train by chain pulling in Bhojpur before the train stops at Danapur, where they feared checking by the railway police,” said a police officer.

During the investigation, the police seized three empty cartridges from the spot.

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