Kapu protest: People caught unawares

KAKINADA: It was a nightmarish experience for train passengers and commuters on the road, who, without reason, bore the brunt of the agitators’ anger.

Nine commuters – P.S. Narayana and Subbarao, both bus drivers, A. Srividya and A. Durga Devi who were travelling in a car, P. Ranganayakulu, R. Mohana Rao, P. Suribabu, K. Ashok, Ch. Rajesh and Prabhakar, who were going about their business on the train, received serious injuries after being attacked by the agitators.

The protesters stopped the Ratnachal Express on Sunday afternoon soon after the train left Tuni railway station. They asked the passengers to get down and then began attacking the train engine.

Meanwhile, the engine driver, noticing the agitators, cut off the power supply to prevent accidents.

After asking the passengers to get down, the agitators set fire to the bogies, one after the other.

The frightened passengers got down with the luggage and ran across the fields.

After walking almost 16 km through the fields at Hamsavaram they reached the National Highway where there was no vehicular movement.

Many of the passengers including the old, children and the infirm, suffered.
“My mother had to go Vijayawada for a health check-up as she is suffering from chest pain. She was stuggling to walk and there was no transportation.

We suffered,” said M. Vishnuvardhan Raju of West Godavari district.
Mr Raju felt that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu should have stepped in to resolve the issues before the agitation took off.

A research scholar, K. Gopal Ramachandran from Tamil Nadu, said that he did not anticipate the events that unfolded.