Maitree Express to resume service on Sunday

Services of the Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express train, which have been temporally suspended on account of Eid-ul-Fitr, will resume on Sunday, the Eastern Railway said on Wednesday.

Rejecting suggestions that the train service was suspended in the wake of Friday's deadly terror attack in Dhaka, an Eastern Railway spokesperson said it was "customary" to suspend the services on Eid days.

"The services of the train remain temporarily suspended during Eid days to avoid operational complications arising due to non-running of trains in Bangladesh during the festival.

"The train leaves for Dhaka on Tuesdays and Sundays. The service on Tuesday (July 5) was cancelled because of Eid, and not because of the Dhaka attack. The train will resume on Sunday," said the spokesperson.

Earlier in the week, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party president Dilip Ghosh had demanded stopping of the train in protest against the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Ghosh's comments attracted strong rebuke from Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.

"Maitree Express has no relation with terrorism. We should not make such comments which can hamper relations between the two countries," Banerjee had said on Monday.

--IANS

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