Patna: Incensed over Railway's decision to withdraw stoppage of several trains at Khusrupur station in Bihar, angry locals on Monday ransacked the station and attacked three trains including the Intercity Express and uprooted rail lines under Danapur division, about 32 km from Patna. The trains which were attacked were Vikramshila Express, Patna-Rajgir Express and Danapur-Jainagar Express.
As the protests turned violent, the Railway Board withdrew the order cancelling train halts. In a statement, the Board said that trains will continue to stop at designated stations.
However, Union Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee totally disassociated herself from the decision to cancel train stops. She has said she will find out how it started.
Most of the train stops were introduced by former Railway Minister Lalu Yadav.
Earlier, hundreds of people from nearby villages stormed the Khusrupur railway station Monday morning, ransacked the station and burnt it down, according to Deputy Superintendent of Government Railway Police (Patna East) Rajendra Singh.
They were protesting the East Central Railway's announcement in newspapers pertaining to withdrawal of stoppage of several express trains, including Rajgir-New Delhi Shramajivi Express and Kosi Express, at Khusrupur.
Locals also attacked the 3226 down Danapur-Jainagar Intercity Express at Baikatpur village near the station, and torched its three bogies-- two general coaches and an air conditioned chair car, Singh said.
They also uprooted the railway lines in a stretch of several meters under Danapur division of East Central railway.
Fire tenders fought for hours to douse the flames, Singh said.
The mob also destroyed several electronic and other railway operation equipment and signal system, besides the ticket booking counter, Singh said.
Reinforcements were sent to Khusrupur station to control the situation, he said.
Senior railway and police officials have reached the spot and patrolling was intensified as tension ran high in the area, Singh added.