Rab-Gatemen Row: Rail services halted for two hours
Rail communication between Dhaka and the rest of the country, except Narayanganj, remained suspended for nearly two hours yesterday as gatemen at level crossings around Uttara abstained from work after Rab detained one of their colleagues.
All departing and arriving trains inm Dhaka were delayed after 2:00pm, railway officials said.
The gatemen resumed work after the authorities promised them of their colleague’s release.
Rab released the man later in the evening.
Hundreds of passengers suffered at different stations and onboard the trains due to the delay.
Maron Chandra Das, manager of airport station, told The Daily Star that gateman Al Amin lowered the barrier at Kasaibari level crossing as Karnaphuli Express approached around 11:00am.
Several Rab men, in a vehicle, asked him to lift the barrier, Maron said, adding that Al Amin told the Rab men that the gate had already been locked.
The Rab men then picked him up, he added.
As the news spread among gatemen of nearby crossings, they suspended work.
Operation of trains remained suspended from 2:50pm-4:40pm, officials said. Dhaka-bound Maitree Express from Kolkata remained stranded at Tongi, Rajshahi-bound Silk City Express at cantonment, Tangail Commuter at airport, and Upakul Express at Tejgaon stations.
Akbar Hossain, in-charge of Airport Railway Police Outpost, said the gateman was picked up following an altercation with Rab men. The work abstention began about two hours later.
Top officials of Bangladesh Railway talked with Rab officials, Maron said, adding that Al Amin was released around 6:00pm.
Contacted, Rab Director (legal and media) Lt Col Sarwar-Bin-Quasem said Al Amin was detained because of allegations of drug peddling and extortion against him.
“After primary interrogation, we released him on a bond,” he said. He refuted the allegation of detaining Al Amin because he asked the Rab men to wait until the train crossed the area.
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