The eight special trains the government provided to carry people from different districts to Dhaka city on Tuesday to join the July Declaration announcement ceremony, had passengers fewer than the usual trains.
In Rajshahi, meanwhile, two intercity trains, including a special train meant to carry July Declaration passengers, were delayed on the day after some youths identifying themselves as 鈥楯uly Warriors鈥� blocked the tracks at Rajshahi Railway Station, demanding premium intercity services in the special train.
One of the protesters also hurled stones to a moving train at the time, said Bangladesh Railway officials.
The liberation war affairs ministry on August 3 rented eight pairs of special trains for Tk 30.45 lakh to bring students and people from all over the country to the historic July Proclamation announcement ceremony held in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The operations of the special trains started on Monday night and are scheduled to end this morning on the Chattogram-Dhaka-Chattogram, Joydebpur-Dhaka-Joydebpur, Narayanganj-Dhaka-Narayanganj, Narsingdi-Dhaka-Narsingdi, Sylhet-Dhaka-Sylhet, Rajshahi-Dhaka-Rajshahi, Rangpur-Dhaka-Rangpur and Bhanga-Dhaka-Bhanga routes.
Bangladesh Railway additional director general (operations) Md Nazmul Islam said that the eight trains had 5,200 seats, of which 80 per cent was filled up on the day.
The exact number of passengers availing the service was not known to them, Nazmul said, adding that they did not count the passengers on reserved trains.
A senior official at the railway鈥檚 Dhaka division office said that usually trains on these routes have their 90鈥�99 per cent filled up.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Rajshahi reported that the government-chartered special train from Rajshahi, with 548 seats, was set to depart at 7:20am on Tuesday.
After seeing the train鈥檚 local and non-intercity coaches, several youths refused to board and demanded premium intercity services like Silkcity or Banalata Express trains.
When the special train was about to leave the station, some protesters lay down on the tracks and some others blocked the locomotive.
One of them hurled a stone at the locomotive when the train started. Then the train stopped and some passengers inside it locked into altercation with the protesters.
Shahidul Alam, Rajshahi stationmaster, said that they had to accommodate 35 protesting youths in the Silkcity Express to manage the situation.
About 250 people travelled on the special train, he said, adding that the protest cause the special train and the Silkcity Express to delay by around an hour.
A video footage of showing the incident of pelting stones at a running train went viral on social media, drawing criticisms.
According to railway officials, under Section 127 of the Railways Act, 1890, throwing stones at a moving train is punishable by up to life imprisonment or a Tk 10,000 fine. If it causes death, the offender may face capital punishment.
Rajshahi Railway police officer-in-charge Faisal Bin Ahsan said that no complaint was lodged in this regard as of Tuesday evening.
Railway鈥檚 west zone general manager Farid Ahmed said that they were looking into the matter.
Quoting Sylhet rail station manager Md Nurul Islam, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Sylhet reported that the special train from the city had 548 seats.
鈥榃e did not pay attention how many passengers boarded the train while leaving,鈥� Nurul Islam added.
Earlier, Chattogram Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal rented a special train to take part in a student rally at Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on August 3, and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami rented four special trains to transport leaders and supporters to Dhaka for its July 18 rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.
