The rakes of the Bengaluru-Karaikal train held under custody by Jallikkattu protesters near Salem Town Railway Station was shunted back to Salem Junction, after the protest was withdrawn today.

The Mechanical branch of the Salem Division inspected the damage to the locomotive and coaches, and put the damage of diesel engine at Rs. 20 lakh and the cost of 16 passenger coaches at Rs. 40 lakh approximately, a Southern Railway spokesperson said.

The locomotive will be hauled back to the Diesel Loco Shed of South West Railway at Krishnarajapuram and the coaches to the Carriage and Wagon depot at Yashwanthpur near Bengaluru, he said.

Now that the stalled rake has been cleared from the tracks, the train traffic would be restored to normalcy in the Salem-Vriddhachalam sector, subject to change in other sections over Southern Railways due to the ongoing agitation, the spokesperson said.

The protesters held the rakes captive on January 19 as part of their agitation seeking a permanent solution to Jallikkattu before withdrawing the protest today.