Agitators obstruct train movement to protest communal clashes

Train services on the Barasat- Hasnabad and the Barasat-Bongaon sections of Eastern Railway were disrupted for four and a half hours today due to obstruction by agitators at different stations along the route.
The agitators were protesting against communal violence that affected Baduria block in the Basirhat sub-division of North 24-Parganas district since Monday.
Rail tracks in both these sections pass through North 24-Parganas district which covers a vast area starting from the northern fringes of Kolkata and shares an extensive international border with Bangladesh in the east.
As a consequence of the disruption of train services, 19 pairs of EMU locals had to be cancelled and seven EMU locals were detained enroute for about two and a half hours each on an average, an Eastern Railway spokesman said.

Train services were disrupted in the Barasat-Bongaon section from 8.30 AM to 2.00 PM, while on Barasat-Hasnabad section, obstructions were made between Champapukur-Basirhat from 9.27 AM to 9.58 AM "on non-railway cause", the spokesman said.
On the Barasat-Bongaon section, the agitators obstructed railway tracks at Duttapukur station from 8.30 AM to 2.00 PM at a level crossing gate between Asoknagar and Guma stations from 9.45 AM to 11.25 AM and at a level crossing gate at Guma station from 10.55 AM to 1.25 PM.
Normal train services have been restored on both Barasat-Hasnabad and Barasat-Bongaon sections, the spokesman said.