Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to West Bengal’s Malda on Saturday, where he flagged off the first Vande Bharat sleeper train between Howrah and Guwahati, the Railways had written to the officer in charge of the local Kaliachak police station stating that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) apprehended the possibility of stone pelting on the train.
According to sources, inputs from the Intelligence Department had indicated the possibility of stone pelting and waving of black flags against PM Modi. The police had been accordingly instructed to make necessary security arrangements to avert such possibilities.
The RPF’s letter, dated Thursday, stated that one Subodh Kumar Shaw had written to them regarding “some antisocial element” in Malda who would attempt to carry out “stone pelting on the first sleeper Vande Bharat Express train as soon as it leaves Malda, Jamirghata, Khaltipur, Chamagram, Sankopara, New Farakka. Ballalpur, Dhuliyan, Basudebpur, and Tildanga”.
Adding that black flags are also likely to be waved against PM Modi, RPF’s letter said, “Therefore, you are requested to depute sufficient officers and staff at the station area to maintain law and order and peaceful completion of the event.”
Previously too there have been several incidents of stones being thrown at the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express. The railways had taken strict action in the cases.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) posted on social media that the RPF mercilessly beat up a vagabond at Malda railway station just to keep the station clear before the Prime Minister’s arrival.
Taking to X, the party posted, “As Prachar Mantri is coming to West Bengal today. We need to ask. Is this how @narendramodi welcomes India’s poor? By using central forces to intimidate, harass, and push aside the marginalised so that a photo-op stays clean and uninterrupted.”
It added, “This is the reality of Modi’s governance. Optics over humanity. Spectacle over service. In Modi’s India, narratives are stage-managed, cameras are guarded, and the poor are treated as obstacles, not citizens. Cameras are protected. People are not.”
The RPF has yet to issue an official statement on this allegation.