Agitators belonging to the Kapu caste set fire to Ratnachal Express when it halted at Tuni railway station in East Godavari district on Sunday afternoon. Earlier in the day, there was a massive protest meeting near the Tuni town attended by lakhs of Kapus from all over the State to voice their demand for inclusion in the backward class list.

The meeting - christened Kapu Garjana - was convened by M. Padmanabham, senior leader belonging to the Kapu caste, to voice protest over the delay in the inclusion of Kapus in the BC list. The ruling Telugu Desam Party had made the promise before the 2014 elections that, if elected to power, it would include the Kapus in the BC list.

Padmanabham gave a call for road and rail blockade at the meeting and immediately agitators in huge numbers stormed the Tuni railway station and destroyed the engine of the Ratnachal Express going from Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada. Later they set fire to the bogies of the train. The panic-stricken passengers fled the station. A few railway staff were injured in the incident, when they tried to prevent the agitators, according to sources.

The agitators also blocked the traffic on the National Highway near the town. Train traffic on the Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada section was disrupted due to the agitation.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in