Violent protests
ULHASNAGAR: The satellite township bore the brunt of Thursday's violent protests, with teenagers pulling frightened commuters out and setting fire to three trains.
Violence erupted in the morning and as it fanned through the city, protesters began to stop trains at the station. The Mumbai-bound Deccan Queen, which ferries hundreds of daily commuters to the city every day, arrived around 11.30 am, almost two hours behind schedule as protesters had stopped all suburban trains on the track.
Frightened commuters got off the train and many were pulled out. The mob's next step took everyone, including the heavily outnumbered railway police, by surprise — they set the train on fire.
Since the Central Railway authorities were not prepared for such an incident, seven coaches of the Deccan Queen were burnt to ashes in no time. The Ulhasnagar civic authorities did not have provisions for a fire brigade, said sources.
Almost half an hour later, a local from Ambernath to CST was also set on fire in the same area.
Once again, CR officials did not have any provisions for dousing the fire and waited for fire brigade vans from the Kalyan Dombivli municipal corporation. Even while attempts were being made to control the blaze on the up train, a down service coming from CST to Ambernath also met with the same fate near Ulhasnagar.
Significantly, mobs burnt all the first class coaches on both the up and down suburban locals.
Violence erupted in the morning and as it fanned through the city, protesters began to stop trains at the station. The Mumbai-bound Deccan Queen, which ferries hundreds of daily commuters to the city every day, arrived around 11.30 am, almost two hours behind schedule as protesters had stopped all suburban trains on the track.
Frightened commuters got off the train and many were pulled out. The mob's next step took everyone, including the heavily outnumbered railway police, by surprise — they set the train on fire.
Since the Central Railway authorities were not prepared for such an incident, seven coaches of the Deccan Queen were burnt to ashes in no time. The Ulhasnagar civic authorities did not have provisions for a fire brigade, said sources.
Almost half an hour later, a local from Ambernath to CST was also set on fire in the same area.
Once again, CR officials did not have any provisions for dousing the fire and waited for fire brigade vans from the Kalyan Dombivli municipal corporation. Even while attempts were being made to control the blaze on the up train, a down service coming from CST to Ambernath also met with the same fate near Ulhasnagar.
Significantly, mobs burnt all the first class coaches on both the up and down suburban locals.