SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad , June 18: The agitation against the Agnipath scheme entered its second day in Dhanbad. However, the situation remained quiet, and a large police presence halted the protesters around two kilometres from the district collectorate.
Hundreds of agitators wielding sticks and rods staged a ‘foot march’ on National Highway-32 from Putki Karkend to the city’s Randhir Verma Chowk to demonstrate. However, they were stoppedand returned by police at Bank More’s JP Chowk.
On the National Highway-32 (connecting Dhanbad Jamshedpur and Dhanbad- Bokaro Ranchi), a large police force was deployed to restrain the agitators. The development was being monitored by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Headquarter-1 Amar Pandey and Headquarters-2 Arvind Kumar Sinha, as well as authorities in charge of three police stations.
The agitators were first stopped by police in Godhar. They sat and burned tyres on the road, blocking the NH-32. Senior police officers permitted them to come to Bank More’s JP Chowk after seeing the situation spiralling out of control which caused a major traffic jam. The agitators arrived at JP Chowk and left quietly after the demonstration.
Since agitators squatted on rail tracks at Dhanbad railway station on Friday, causing the cancellation of half a dozen trains and the delay of numerous others, railway zonal authorities have already cancelled 17 trains today.
In apprehension of sabotage, the Dhanbad railway divisional officials secured the railway station with heavy RPF and GRP personnel to ensure that no one entered the premises. All of the shops on Station Road (NH-32) have their shutters down. In the wake of the agitators’ procession, even the car parking on station grounds was evacuated in the morning.
Agitating youths claimed that the central government is deceiving them by only offering jobs for four years when they are supposed to last 15 years. “We’ll keep protesting peacefully until the central government changes the Agnipath scheme,” a young man remarked.
