Dhanbad/Jamshedpur, Jun 17 (PTI) Train services were disrupted in several railway divisions, including the Howrah-Mumbai route, in Jharkhand as people blocked tracks at many places on Friday, protesting against the Centre's newly introduced 'Agnipath' scheme for recruitment in armed forces, officials said.

The East Central Railway authorities cancelled five trains as several people put up a blockade on tracks at Dhanbad station around 11 am, an ECR official said.

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They squatted on tracks and raised slogans against the Centre for the defence recruitment scheme.

Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police personnel removed them from there after an hour to clear the tracks, the official said.

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Dhanbad railway division senior public relation officer PK Mishra said, "Five trains on several routes such as Dhanbad-Patna, Dhanbad–Jhargram and Dhanbad–Sindri have been cancelled."

Movement of several other trains was also affected due to the agitation, he said.

Dhanbad-Dehri-on-Sone Express was detained at Koderma, while Asansol-Varanasi MEMU was stopped at Gomoh and Barkakana-Varanasi at Barwadih, he said.

Train services on the Howrah-Mumbai route were also disrupted for one and half hours after job aspirants held a demonstration on railway tracks near Jugsalai crossing in Jamshedpur under the Chakradharpur division, a South Eastern Railway official said.

Durg-bound South Bihar Express and Tata-Danapur Express were stuck up for 90 minutes at Taranagar station due to the agitation, area manager Vinod Kumar said.

The protestors agreed to withdraw the blockade after Superintendent of Police (Jamshedpur City) K Vijay Shankar asked them to place their demand at an appropriate forum.

A group of agitators met East Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jadav and submitted a memorandum, demanding withdrawal of the 'Agnipath' scheme.

One of the protesters claimed that "no recruitment drive for armed forces had taken place for the last two years" due to Covid-19 pandemic and said the "new scheme will not help them".

In the wake of 'anti-Agnipath' agitation, the Dhanbad district police and the Railway Protection Force had made elaborate arrangements so that protestors cannot damage property and disrupt train movements.

Rural Superintendent of Police Reeshma Ramesan is monitoring the situation, while RPF deputy Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Besra was camping at the main gate of the Dhanbad railway station.

The main gate of Dhanbad railway division headquarters was also closed in view of the demonstrations.

The agitators also staged protests in Jharia, Jorapokhar and other areas of the district against the 'Agnipath' scheme.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)