Protest by members of the Kapu community demanding their inclusion in the Backward Class status on Sunday turned violent as agitators burnt two coaches of Ratnachal Express.
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Hundreds of agitators took to tracks and set on fire the train going from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam, after stopping it. Panic-stricken passengers ran helter-skelter as the fire extended from coach to coach.
On the other hand, vehicular traffic on Chennai-Kolkata national highway came to a standstill with the Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham himself sitting on the highway with his vehicle and thousands of agitators joining in his support.
The government has also chose to constitute a commission to study the issue of reservations to be provided for the community.
Lakhs of members from the community gathered at the venue in Tuni of Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
The protest forced the authorities to stop all trains running between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada stations, causing a huge inconvenience to passengers.
The violence broke out around 3 p.m. during a massive public meeting organized by Kapu State Committee at Tuni to demand the government to include Kapus in the backward classes list and provide them reservation. The agitators attacked the Ratachal Express early this morning and then went ahead to attack the rural police station.
Ravindra Gupta, general manager, South Central Railway, held an emergency meeting at Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad to review the situation. Additional forces are being deployed to bring things under control.
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According to people who have knowledge of the matter, one constable sustained injuries in stone-pelting at the spot. The ruling Telugu Desam Party had made the promise before the 2014 elections that, if elected to power, it would include the Kapus in the BC list.
