Train roof-top passengers clash with police

Ghaziabad (IANS) Around 14 policemen and a dozen passengers were injured in a clash at Loni railway station in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district Thursday, when police tried to make over a thousand passengers travelling on the rooftops of a train dismount.

"When the passengers did not get down from the rooftops of SD-6 train running between Saharanpur and Delhi Thursday, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) had to use force to evacuate the roofs," a police official said.

A railway official said that initially there was an altercation between the passengers and the RPF troopers but it took an ugly turn when the RPF men used force.

"The angered passengers also attacked the police and then barged into the police post at the railway station, vandalising the furniture, tearing papers and damaging other official articles," the railway official said.

The RPF officials called in the local police, which assisted the RPF in clearing the train roofs.  Till then about two dozen people from both sides sustained injuries and were referred to local hospitals. Most of them were discharged after first aid, police said.

"We have arrested 22 people and a case of rioting has been registered at GRP police station at Baraut. Two policemen have sustained serious injuries while a dozen were discharged after first aid. A dozen passengers were discharged after first aid," Superintendent of Police (City) Avdhesh Kumar Vijaita said.