Pics: Savitha B R
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (PS/CN)
 
Mangalore, Jan 26: In a press conference held at the district BJP office on Tuesday January 25, Mahesh Kumar Thuppekal, vice-president, BJP Yuva Morcha (DK district) hinted that a few BJP workers had already planned and would surely participate in the flag hoisting scheduled to be held in Lal Chawki, Jammu Kashmir, on Wednesday January 26.

He said that 10 members of the district Yuva Morcha are going to Jammu Kashmir in three groups.Briefing about their experience, he said that the special train which left Yashavantpur station on Thursday January 21 at 8.30 am had reached Maharashtra via Gulbarga.

“The train was stopped soon after it crossed the Maharashtra border and was stranded for about two hours. Hence, it took 16 hours to reach Maharashtra. On 22nd January at 3 pm we were going to Madhya Pradesh via Solapur.

At around 7 pm some people were pelting stones at our wagons. When we reached the next station, the railway officials insisted that we close the windows and said some Naxals had pelted stones at our train. We were worried about the incidents and closed the windows and recited ‘Hanuman Chalis’. Later, we had our dinner and slept except for some ‘Rakshana’ activists who were awake. In fact, Congress activists threw stones with the help of Maharashtra police,” alleged Thuppekal.
 
“According to Rakshana activists, the train was stopped on purpose for about two hours at an unknown station at midnight. Later, all the stations we passed were dark and had no electricity. Everywhere we could find tight security by police. We got suspicious and informed the state president at 4.30 am.

He told us to pull the chain. But they had already inactivated the emergency chain break system of 12 wagons. So it was 6 am when we stopped the train after informing of all these discrepancies through phone. We were in Kadabgaun of Maharashtra state just 80 km away from Karnataka that time. In just 4.5 hours we had covered the journey which would have taken 12 hours.

The water supply in the train was also stopped. There was no water even for sanitary purposes. This news spread to the nearby areas. Locals provided us food and drinking water. We activists did not loose courage and raised our voice against the Maharashtra police. They called in 3,000 members of the paramilitary force. They forcibly manhandled us and pushed us into the train. Activists in Gulbarga came to know about this and they gathered at Ganagapura station. There was a war of words between the Maharashtra police and the activists. Police resorted to lathi charge immediately.

Furious activists succeeded in sending the police back to Maharashtra. Later railway officers promised that water will be filled in Gulbarga. But the railway officers showed their true colours and did not stop in Gulbarga. But activists forcibly stopped the train near a Hanuman temple in Koranti. All the along the way, the Yuva Morcha activists requested the railway officers to send them back to Jammu Kashmir which went unheard,” he added.
 
Raghavendra Rao, president, BJP Yuva Morcha and Yuva Morcha, and leaders from various regions of Dakshina Kannada district were present at the press meet.