Railway losses ₹84 crore in anti-CAA, NRC protests in West Bengal

Kolkata: The Railways claimed to have suffered losses of properties worth ₹84 crore in violence related to protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC in West Bengal from December 13 to 15, according to reports filed by it before the Calcutta High Court.

The Eastern Railway said in an affidavit before a division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice A Banerjee on Friday that it suffered the brunt of the protests with losses amounting to ₹72.2 crore, with the maximum being in the Sealdah division, which suffered damages worth ₹46 crore.

The Malda division of ER suffered losses worth nearly ₹24.5 crore, while the Howrah division's losses were more than ₹one crore, it said in an affidavit before the court on Friday in connection with a PIL seeking compensation to people and the railways for losses suffered in violence during the anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests.

The South Eastern Railway, in a separate affidavit, said that it suffered losses to its properties worth ₹12.75 crore, including to trains, stations and tracks.

The matter will be taken up for hearing again four weeks hence, the court directed.