A relative of one of the accused is a member of a political party, they also claimed.

The incident occurred days before prime minister Narendra Modi, on Monday – the eve of his 74th birthday – is to flag off this latest Vande Bharat service. It will connect Chhattisgarh’s Durg and Visakhapatnam (also called Vizag) in Andhra Pradesh.

“The train was passing through Bagbahra railway station on its way back from Visakhapatnam to Durg during its trial run around 9pm on Friday,” PTI quoted Praveen Singh Dhakad of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), as saying.

“On the way back, some anti-social elements hurled stones, damaging window panes of C2, C4 and C9 coaches. No one was injured,” the RPF inspector added.

He further stated that an RPF escort party, led by an assistant sub-inspector, sent an alert regarding the pelting, following which security personnel were sent to the site.

Shiv Kumar Baghel, Devendra Chandrakar, Jitu Tandi, Lekhraj Sonwani and Arjun Yadav – all Bagbahra residents – are in custody.

Officials claimed that Baghel’s sister-in-law is a corporator of the opposition Congress party in the state.

The group has been booked under Section 153 (anyone who endangers the safety of a person travelling on a railway by a willful act or omission is punishable with up to five years in prison) of the Railways Act, 1989.