Coaching centre owner found to be behind Friday’s Agnipath arson in Secunderabad

Hyderabad: Friday’s violence at the Secunderabad railway station was allegedly premeditated with the protesters and tacit support from some others, who planned a day in advance to set ablaze trains as a mark of protest against the Agnipath scheme. Around 20 persons were arrested on Saturday.

According to a senior Telangana police official, Avula Subba Rao, the director of Sai Defense Academy at Narsaraopet in Andhra Pradesh, allegedly planned the violence with help of a few job aspirants. He was taken into custody from Cumbum town of Prakasam district. On interrogation, Rao reportedly told the police that the fear of losing business due to the Agnipath scheme forced him to plan the violence.

In the last two years, Army recruitment exams were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused heavy losses for such coaching institutes, police sources said.

The Agnipath scheme, Subba Rao felt, would dent his business as no one would opt for a four-year career in the Army. He reportedly ran nine coaching institutes in the two Telugu States. The police are also probing if any other coaching institutes were directly or indirectly involved in Friday’s violence.

The police have, so far, caught 46 persons and produced around 20 in the court, while the remaining are being questioned. Most of them were picked up on Friday from the Secunderabad railway station, while a few others were taken into custody based on information provided by those detained.

The youngsters told the police that they were taking coaching for the last few years and that recruitment exams were cancelled at least 10 times. “Due to this, many were rendered ineligible on account of the age criteria and feared that they would not get selected due to the Agnipath scheme,” said the official, adding that footage from surveillance cameras around the Secunderabad station was also being examined to identify more protestors.

Meanwhile, the Gopalapuram police have registered two different cases pertaining to the damage of an RTC bus and other private vehicles outside the station. The cases are likely to be transferred to the Hyderabad City Police, with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the City Police most likely to take over the investigation.

Protesters coordinated on WhatsApp

A few WhatsApp groups — such as the Hakeempet Army Soldiers, Hakeempet Rally Group, Justice for Army CEE and Army GD Group 2021 March — were used to gather the protesters, police sources have said. In audio messages sent in the Hakeempet Army Soldiers groups, one of the members is heard asking all those attending the protest to carry tyres, old clothes and a bottle of fuel. “Unless we register our protest, no one will listen to our plight. Our issue needs to be highlighted at any cost,” a member is heard saying.

At the same time, another person in the group is heard asking them to first adopt a peaceful protest plan. Only if that does not work, should they resort to a violent protest, he says. “Otherwise, the police will impose Section 144 and we will not be able to protest,” he is heard suggesting.

The police have found several similar provocative audio messages in the groups. A few of the youngsters had also planned to set ablaze a bus somewhere in Telangana.
DCP (North) Chandana Deepti said the youngsters had arrived from different places at the Secunderabad railway station to register their protest following a ‘protest call’. “A batch of around 200 reached Secunderabad in the Krishna Express at 6 am. A few hundred more joined them around 9 am,” she said.

Officials said the firing was necessitated as the protesters were behaving like hardcore criminals, setting trains on fire by throwing burning rags under them. Gunny bags, bedsheets, cushions and towels were doused in petrol and thrown into the coaches.
“They also pelted stones to prevent the police and fire personnel from reaching the burning coaches. There was a large quantity of diesel in at least three locomotives and an explosion was feared. The firing was this necessitated,” the officials said.

Protests planned at Guntur, Vizag stations

Protestors in Andhra Pradesh had planned to stage a protest at the Guntur and Visakhapatnam railway stations on Saturday. It was only after the Telangana police informed their counterparts in the neighbouring State that the AP police tightened security at these stations.