The 'rail roko' protest at Badlapur station in Maharashtra's Thane district on Tuesday over the alleged sexual abuse of two girl students of a kindergarten led to the diversion of 10 long-distance trains via alternate routes, the Central Railway said.

As protesters, including several women, came on railway tracks and blocked traffic, local train services between Ambernath and Karjat stations were suspended from 10:10 AM.

The protest turned violent as agitators vandalised the school, where the alleged incident occurred last week, and also indulged in stone-pelting at the Badlapur railway station, police said.

At least 10 mail-express trains, including Solapur-CSMT Vande Bharat Express, were diverted via Karjat-Panvel-Thane stations, said Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer (CRPO) of Central Railway.

He said local trains between CSMT and Ambarnath stations are running normally; services between Badlapur and Karjat remain suspended.

In view of the protest, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) deployed additional personnel at stations on the Kalyan-Karjat section of Central Railway, Nila said.

Senior Divisional Security Manager along with 60 jawans and 10 officials of RPF, are closely monitoring the situation at Badlapur station with the Government Railway Police (GRP) staff.

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