Agnipath protests: Mob damages buses in Firozabad

A group of people protesting against the short-term recruitment of soldiers in the defence services under the Agnipath scheme damaged at least three Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation buses on Friday along the Agra-Lucknow Expressway.

Police said that the windscreens of the buses were damaged before they rushed to the scene. “A handful of youths near village Sangai Kharedia in the Firozabad district damaged the buses using sticks and batons at 5 am,” said senior police superintendent Ashish Tiwari. He added that the situation is normal and traffic was plying as usual on the expressway. “Police are undertaking legal proceedings.”

Protests against the scheme were reported from Shikohabad in the Firozabad district on Thursday as well and disrupted the traffic on the Agra-Jaipur and Agra-Delhi national highways.

Fresh protesters were held on Friday across the country even as the government late on Thursday granted a two-year age relaxation under the scheme through a one-time waiver to assuage the anger over it after at least 180 people were injured in protests across seven states on Thursday.