Authorities are yet to track down 32 of the 54 people, who travelled on a special train from Dhaka bringing in money meant for salaries and other expenses of the Sylhet Railway Station.
The train, which was supposed to only carry railway staffers, had allegedly transported passengers from Dhaka.
The Sylhet district administration has written to the Railways Division for taking actions against 24 people, including the station manager.
Around 5pm on Saturday, the special train with two coaches entered the station carrying 54 people, including railway staff members.
A local journalist captured the incident and shared it in Facebook triggering a storm on social media as the entire Sylhet district was already put under lockdown.
Sylhet railway station authorities, however, said all of the 54 people on the train were staffers.
“One of the two coaches of the train was the power car; the other one was carrying people,” Station Manager Khalilur Rahman said before claiming that there were no outsiders on the train.
According to him, 22 staffers were tasked with the job from Dhaka to bring in the money meant for salaries and other expenses.
“What happened is, several railway staffers, with their monthly groceries, boarded the train while it was on its way to Sylhet,” said Rahman.
The train left for Dhaka on Sunday with 24 staffers, he added.
Soon after the incident was reported, the Sylhet district administration launched an investigation.
Assistant Commissioner Ershad Miah, who led the probe, said they have gone through the security camera footages the same day to find 54 people arriving.
According to the official, Station Manager Rahman could only come up with details of 22 railway staffers of the Bholaganj and Sylhet stations but failed to provide any explanation over the remaining persons.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune on Sunday, Miah, the nejarat deputy collector, said that district administration has reported the incident to the railway ministry and asked to be notified before conducting special trains in future.
“The train was carrying some 32 extra people. The deputy commissioner (district administration chief) has written to the ministry asking to take actions against 24 people, including the station manager,” he told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.