On Tuesday, the Gujarat Railway Police rejected All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s allegation that stones were intentionally hurled at the Vande Bharat Express destined for Surat, on which AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi was traveling.
The statement from railway police comes a day after AIMIM spokesperson Waris Pathan claimed that while the party’s president Asaduddin Owaisi was traveling from Ahmedabad to Surat on the Vande Bharat train, a stone was thrown on the compartment in which Owaisi was seated. He said that it was intended to harm the AIMIM leader.
Gujarat Railway police have refuted #AIMIM‘s claim that stone was pelted on #VandeBharattrain heading towards Surat, in which its party President #AsaduddinOwaisi was travelling. pic.twitter.com/tveOFRMKcy
— IANS (@ians_india) November 8, 2022
Gujarat Railway police launched a probe shortly after the party made charges public. Deputy Superintendent of Police D.H. Gaur addressed the media on November 8 and confirmed that no stones were thrown at the Vande Bharat Express on Monday evening.
“Railways work is going on on the track between Ankleshwar and Surat. When Vande Bharat was moving towards the south, at the same time Paschim Express was moving towards the north, when due to vibration, a stone hit the window of the coach”, he said.
The officer further went on to say that there is no residential area where any hooliganism may be suspected. According to the inquiry, no one was wounded, and there was no plot with the purpose of exacting retribution. According to railway sources, the stone struck the window next to seat number E1-25, while Owaisi was seated at E1-21.
The incident happened when AIMIM leader Owaisi was traveling to Surat to attend a public rally as part of his election campaigning in the state, where the Assembly polls are scheduled for December 1 and 5. While AIMIM spokesperson Waris Pathan claimed that two stones were hurled one after the other, the police confirmed that some grit hit the train due to the ongoing engineering work on the railway track at Ankleshwar in Bharuch district and damaged the train’s window.
“It was not a case of stone-pelting,” the official said and added that the AIMIM leader was seated away from the window in the compartment. The cracked window has been changed and further investigations into the case are underway.
