Train services were severely affected across Bangladesh due to acts of sabotage on the first day of the countrywide 48-hour Opposition blockade.
The BNP and its allies opposed the announcement of parliament elections on Monday and called for a two day blockade of road, rail and water transport starting from 6am Tuesday.
Commuters faced much trouble and insecurity after trains got stuck on tracks in several places due to sabotage and Opposition violence.
Railway’s Dhaka Divisional Manager Sarder Shahadat Ali said safety was a priority and so delays were to be expected.
Kamalapur Railway Station Manager Khairul Bashir said trains bound for north and southern regions left the station in the morning.
But the Chittagong-bound trains were delayed due to Monday’s accident in Akhaura, he said.
Mymensingh
At least 20 people were injured as a Dhaka-Mohanganj train derailed in Shyamganj around 5am on Tuesday when blockade supporters removed fishplates on the track.
Brahmanbaria
Train services on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Chittagong-Sylhet routes snapped after 7am when blockade supporters dismantled sleepers in Brahmanbaria’s Kosba.They set ablaze Chattala Express in Imambari station in Kosba around 10am, leaving one carriage burnt.
Nobody was injured at the time, said Kosba railway Station Master Pranab Kanti Barua.
Police and the blockaders were involved in chasing each other at the station, he said.
Chittagong bound Mahangar Prabhati from Dhaka remained stranded in Brahmanbarhia Station, said station master Amrita Lal Sarkar.
The blockade supporters attacked the train and smashed windowpanes around 11am.
They also hurled several handmade bombs but those did not explode, he said.
Lalmonirhat
The blockade campaigners vandalised Mahendranagar Station. They also clashed with police, Border Guard Bangladesh and Ansar personnel.
Several trains remained stranded in many stations of Lalmonirhat and Bogra.
Gazipur
Blockade supporters detained the driver of Mohua train and beat him up in Rajendrapur.
Police rescued the driver and the train resumed journey, Joydebpur Railway Junction Master Ziauddin Sarder said.
Pabna
The Opposition activists set two trains on fire at Iswardi around 1am, hours before the blockade started.
Iswardi GRP Station OC Enamul Haque said the miscreants torched three carriages of Sirajganj Express and two coaches of a local train.
Opposition activists set rail track on fire in Chandpur.
Source: Bd news24