Policemen patrol at a railway crossing near the accident site in Amritsar.
A Punjab police commando and a photojournalist were injured on Sunday when security personnel removed protesters from a rail track where 59 Dussehra revellers were mowed down by a train, officials said.
The agitated protesters blocking the track were removed and train services resumed this afternoon, 40 hours after the horrific accident, a railway spokesperson said.
The first goods train started from Manawala to Amritsar at 1416 hours, Northern Railways spokesperson Deepak Kumar told PTI, adding this is being followed by mail/express trains.
The railways got the clearance from local authorities at 12:30 pm to restore services, the railway spokesperson said.
"Train services resumed on the affected rail track near Joda Phatak," Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (Railways), Firozpur Division, S Sudharkar said
Earlier in the day, agitated people attacked the residence of Municipal corporation councillor Vijay Madan and son Sourabh Madan Mithu, who were the main organisers of the event. They even broke window panes and pelted stones on Saturday.
Following this, the Madan family members have gone to an undisclosed location and also switched off their mobile phones. However, police personnel have been deployed at the residence. A CCTV footage emerged on Sunday showing the main organiser rushing in his car to escape action.
Vijay Madan is the sitting councillor from ward number 29 falling under the Amritsar East assembly constituency. The Madan family members were the main organisers of the Dussehra event where the train accident took place.
Locals continued with their sit-in at Joda Patak on Sunday, but were later removed from the rail track by police personnel.
The locals had started protesting Saturday, raising slogans against the state government and demanding action against the train's driver, a day after the accident here.
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The accident happened when a crowd of Dussehra revellers spilled onto the railway tracks near Joda Phatak and could not see the train approaching them. They were crushed under the wheels of the train coming from Jalandhar and heading towards Amritsar station.
The Indian Railways has said it was not informed by the organisers or the local administration that the Dussehra event was being organised close to railway tracks.
Railways to launch massive anti-trespassing drive, budget to be 'no constraint'
The railways will launch a massive drive against trespassing on tracks across its network, Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said Saturday, a day after 59 Dussehra revellers were run over by a train in an incident described by the railways as a "clear case of trespassing".
Lohani said the railways has launched such campaigns in the past as well, but intermittently. The national transporter had initiated a drive last year too, after a slew of 'selfie deaths' on tracks were reported from across the country.
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"We will launch a nationwide campaign against trespassing and the dangers thereof. This is all that we can do to avoid such tragedies," he said. In the first six months of 2017, more than eight people lost their lives in accidents while clicking selfies on tracks, officials said, adding a campaign was launched after these reports.
In 2018, as of September, 1,20,923 people were arrested and prosecuted by the railway protection force (RPF) for intruding the railway system.
Under section 147 of Indian Railway Act, a total fine of Rs 2.94 crore was imposed on them by courts during the period, according to data provided by the railways.
In 2017, 1,75,996 persons were arrested and prosecuted by the RPF for trespassing the railways system and a fine of Rs 4.35 crore was imposed on them.
"We will increase the frequency of such campaigns and budget will not be a constraint," General Manager, Northern Railway, Vishwesh Chaube told PTI.
The gathering of people close to tracks was a "clear case of trespassing", a senior official had said Friday, after the accident in Amritsar in which the speeding train ran through people standing on track and watching a Ravana effigy burn. Fifty-nine people were killed in the incident.
Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said Saturday it was an "incident" where people were "trespassing" on the tracks and not an "accident".
WATCH VIDEO: Organisers go underground, house attacked
