'Shoot at sight anyone destroying rail property'

Bengaluru: Amid nationwide protests over the amended Citizenship Act, Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi on Tuesday said that he has asked authorities to “shoot at sight” anybody who causes damage to Railway property.

“If anyone is destroying railway property, then I ask the chief minister of the particular state to initiate stringent action just as Sardar Vallabhai Patel had taken to merge Hyderabad with India,” he said at Hubballi.

This was in response to questions by reporters who asked him about the steps taken to prevent damage to Railway property due to CAA related protests.

Hyderabad merged with the Union of India after police action under the leadership of India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which forced the Nizam and his army to surrender.

Recently, railway services were badly affected in West Bengal as anti-CAA protesters blocked railway tracks, ransacked some stations and set fire on railway tracks.

When asked what he meant by stringent action, Angadi said, “Stringent action means to shoot at sight…”

Stating that the CAA will not cause any trouble to Indian citizens, the union minister said “the CAA shows how courageous Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are. ”

However, he was peeved at protests turning violent and blamed the opposition for fanning the disturbance.

“Today the opposition parties opposing the Act should introspect. They are playing politics on this issue.

The opposition parties are destroying public property.

I request the states concerned to initiate stringent action against them,” Angadi said.

He insisted that the CAA will not cause any trouble to the citizens of India as it is aimed at giving citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Buddhists in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh so that they can make a living here.

The minister was in Hubballi to inaugurate the Railway Recruitment Board Satellite Office for the benefit of unemployed youths in the southern region.