Over 500 passengers on Wednesday escaped an inevitable catastrophic consequences as local people stopped an inter-city train heading towards a railway bridge from which blockade enforcers removed fish-plates.
The opposition-backed blockade enforcers removed fish-plates on the 279 number bridge located between Joypurhat and Jamalganj stations in Joypurhat district.
The railway officials said the train Simanto Express headed for Khulna starting from Syedpur early Wednesday. Little did the train driver know about the lurking danger over a canal.
“One of our brothers noticed that some fish-plates of the rail track on the bridge were missing. He then informed others to come and save the approaching train from the disaster,” one of the witnesses named Alam told the Dhaka Tribune.
“The train was sure to plunge headlong into the canal had we not waved it down,” he said.
“Over 500 passengers were on board the train. Unless the people came forward there could have been a fatal accident,” Sujit Kumar Biswas, the divisional traffic officer, told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said the train stopped just near the bridge around 7:35am. The train was then backed to Jamalganj station. Railway technicians fixed the track around 9:40am. The train resumed its journey around 9:50am, he said.
The railway officials said the railway was the most affected by the blockade programme.
According to the situation reports prepared up to 2:00pm Wednesday, the pro-blockade activists cut tracks, removed fish-plates, carried out arson attacks and set the coaches and engines on fire in at least 12 spots since the blockade started on Tuesday.
The destructive activities caused derailment of many trains causing immense sufferings to the common passengers who had to wait at deserted locations for hours.
On Wednesday, the director general of the Ansar forces had a meeting with the director general of the Bangladesh Railway to find out strategies to check the violence on the trains.
The railway authorities have identified 580 vulnerable points where the attackers can carry out sabotage.
The meeting decided to deploy 908 Ansar members – four members at each of the 227 points – Syed Zahurul Islam, director (traffic) of the railway, told the Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.
The railway staff, Railway Nirapatta Bahini and other forces will guard the rest vulnerable points, he said.
“This is an encouraging initiative of the people to protect the railway from destruction save people’s lives. It will inspire others to do the same,” Khalilur Rahman, an additional director general, told the Dhaka Tribune.
The railway authorities on Wednesday appealed to people to protect the state-owned entity from sabotages.