Political temperatures are up in the wake of pelting the recently launched Vande Bharat Express, which runs between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri stations, with stones on Monday and Tuesday.

The first incident occurred near Samsi railway station in the Kumarganj area of Malda district, when the train was on its way to Howrah. The second incident occurred on the outskirts of New Jalpaiguri, when the train was headed toward NJP station.

“It is surprising that on Tuesday the train was pelted with stones near NJP, but it came to the notice of the railway authorities after the train reached Malda while returning to Howrah. Not a single passenger or the RPF personnel on the train mentioned such an attack when the train reached NJP. We suspect some political angles,” said Trinamul leader and Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb.

In a veiled attack on the state’s ruling party, state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday said Bengal was supposed to get two more Vande Bharat trains, but the decision might be reconsidered if the vandalism continued.

“If the vandalism continues, I wonder whether the railways will reconsider the decision. Why are people pelting the train with stones? They should pelt BDO offices with stones for not getting houses under the PMAY scheme,” he said.

After Monday’s attack, state Trinamul secretary Kunal Ghosh had said the BJP had orchestrated it for “political mileage”.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) and the RailwayProtection Force (RPF) have taken a number of steps to prevent such incidents.

“The RPF is probing the incidents and complaints have also been filed with GRP. They are working together to identify attackers and have stepped up vigil on the train. The RPF is conducting awareness drives at the places where such incidents happened and adjoining areas... so goons desist from acts that affect the safety of train operations,” said an official of the Northeast Frontier Railway.

Pelting trains with stones or similar objects is a criminal offence under the Railways Act. The offender can face imprisonment which can extend up to 10 years, the NFR official said.

The intelligence wing of the RPF has been activated for constant monitoring of the train, especially between Malda Town and NJP stations.