The railway authorities have filed a case against unidentified individuals at the Kamalapur Railway police station, alleging casualties and sabotage in the Dhaka-bound Mohanganj Express train derailment at the Bankharia (Chilai River) bridge of Gazipur on the Dhaka-Mymensingh railway early Wednesday.
Ashraf Hossain of the PWD branch of Railways filed the case as the plaintiff Thursday afternoon.
Confirming the filing of the case, Kamalapur Railway police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ferdous Ahmed Biswas said that miscreants in Gazipur used gas cutters to cut and uproot about 20 feet of the rail line on the Dhaka-Mymensingh railway line for sabotage.
In this incident, the Mohanganj Express train, traveling from Mohanganj in Netrokona to Dhaka, derailed while crossing that area, causing six coaches along with the engine of the train to fall from the railway line onto the low ground.
A chicken trader died, while 10 people, including the train driver and his assistant, were injured. No one has been named as a defendant in the case, and legal proceedings and investigations are ongoing.
Hanif Ali, station master of Joydebpur Railway Junction Station, said that although train movement on the Mymensingh-Joydebpur railway line was entirely normal, railway rescue workers worked until the afternoon to recover the engines and coaches of the train that was thrown to the side of the railway line due to the accident.
Shamima Islam, the master of the nearby Sreepur railway station, mentioned that trains resumed running on the Dhaka-Mymensingh railway from the accident site in the morning.
The Bhawal Express train from Dhaka at 6:40am, the Balaka commuter train at 7:05am, and the Dewanganj commuter train at 8:12am left Sreepur station bound for Mymensingh.
Gazipur Superintendent of Police (SP) Kazi Shafiqul Alam said: “It is not an accident but an act of sabotage. The perpetrators, who support the blockade, orchestrated this incident. Our team and detectives are working on it, and we hope to bring them under the law soon.”
Gazipur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abul Fate Mohammad Shafiqul Islam announced the formation of a five-member investigation committee led by Additional District Magistrate Humayun Kabir. The inquiry committee has been instructed to submit its report within the next three working days.
Kamrul Ahsan, general manager of Railways (Dhaka Division), said that about 100 slips and 600 feet of railway line were damaged in the train accident in Gazipur.
