Passengers blocked the Bhagat Ki Kothi-Kacheguda Express at Hingoli over an alleged RPF assault. The protest ended after police promised an investigation, while the RPF denied wrongdoing.The incident allegedly took place aboard the Bhagat Ki Kothi-Kacheguda Express. (Representative image) Passengers staged a protest at Maharashtra’s Hingoli railway station on Thursday, blocking a Jodhpur-Hyderabad train for over two hours after accusing Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel of assaulting a teenager and misbehaving with women travelling with him.

The RPF, however, denied the allegations, saying its personnel had objected to some passengers travelling without tickets recording videos.The incident allegedly took place aboard the Bhagat Ki Kothi-Kacheguda Express (Train No. 17606) in the early hours of Thursday, after the train crossed Washim, around 40 km from Hingoli.The group of passengers, followers of Dr BR Ambedkar, was returning from Nagpur after attending a Dussehra event.

They had boarded the train at Akola for Nanded, but one of their companions, a teenager, allegedly entered a reserved coach by mistake.The protesters alleged that the teenager was assaulted by some passengers and RPF personnel. When the women accompanying the group tried to intervene, they were allegedly pushed and misbehaved with.

Other members of the group were also allegedly assaulted. When the train reached Hingoli station, the agitated passengers got off and sat on the tracks in front of the engine, raising slogans against railway personnel and preventing the train from moving.The protest delayed the train by more than two hours, a railway official at Hingoli station said.

Hingoli town police reached the station and intervened to defuse the situation. The protesters called off their agitation after police assured them that their complaint would be investigated, allowing the train to resume its journey, an official said.RPF inspector S P Paswan denied the allegations when contacted.

He said RPF personnel were clearing the crowded B2 coach when they objected to some passengers travelling without tickets allegedly recording videos.The teenager panicked after being asked to delete the recordings, Paswan said. An RPF constable, noticing his condition, contacted the train guard and the Hingoli station master to arrange for a doctor, he added.An investigation into the incident is underway, the official said.- Ends