Train services affected as protestors block railway tracks in Jalpaiguri

Train services were affected as members of the All Kamtapur Students' Union (AKSU) blocked the railway tracks in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district on Friday morning to press for their demand for a separate state.

The blockade at the Betgara station in the New Jalpaiguri-New Bongaigaon section of the Northeast Frontier Railway began at 7 am, officials said.

The blockade has disrupted train services on the all-important route. Among the trains affected were the New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati Vande Bharat Express, they said.

Officers of the RPF and the state police were talking to the protestors, and trying to persuade them to remove the blockade, they added.

The protesters said the blockade would continue till 7 pm, but railway officials said they were hopeful of an earlier resumption of services.

The protesters raised slogans against both the TMC and BJP for not fulfilling their demand.

The AKSU is the students' wing of the Kamtapur People's Party United, which is agitating for a separate Kamtapur state, carved out of northern parts of West Bengal and western Assam.