‘Take care of each other’s feelings': Railways appeal devotees after stone-pelting at Maha Kumbh special trains

Following stone-pelting at Maha Kumbh special trains in Jhansi and Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh, North Central Railways PRO, Manoj Kumar Singh, appealed to devotees to cooperate and respect each other’s sentiments. He also assured that the railway administration is implementing measures for effective crowd control.

Speaking with news agency ANI, Manoj Kumar Singh said, “Yesterday we ran a special train from Orchha (in UP) so that devotees can reach Kumbh from smaller locations as well."

The appeal to Maha Kumbh devotees from the railways came after some enraged passengers on their way to the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj hurled stones and vandalised the train travelling from Jhansi at Harpalpur railway station. According to the reports, passengers resorted to stone-pelting when they found the doors of the train compartments locked.

The crowd even tried entering the train by breaking the window panes.

In another incident, people heading for the Maha Kumbh threw stones on Prayagraj-bound trains at two railway stations in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur after passengers inside the packed coaches did not open the doors for them.

Following the ruckus at the Chhatarpur and Harpalpur railway stations on Monday night, authorities said stricter security arrangements would be made to avoid such incidents and that special trains were being run for Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh according to the demand. Also Read | Maha Kumbh 2025: ‘World is well lit,’ NASA astronaut shares stunning images from ISS | Watch

Some videos have surfaced on social media showing some people shouting at the Chhatarpur and Harpalpur railway stations. While the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel opened doors of a train at Chhatarpur seeing people creating ruckus but due to the train being already crowded, some could not get on it.

The Railways has planned more than 10,000 trains for the mega religious congregation that will start on January 13 and will continue till February 26.