Dhaka-N’ganj rail service resumes after 4 hours

Rail service on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route was suspended for four hours today over a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax.

After a thorough search along the rail tracks, police dismissed the bomb threat and concluded the tip-off was a hoax.

"It [the bomb threat] was a rumour; we found nothing," said Additional Superintendent of Police Chailau Marma, spokesperson of Narayanganj district police.

Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers suffered significant delays due to this incident. Their plight was multiplied as there was a limited number of Dhaka-bound buses plying on the road due to the political rallies of the ruling Awami League and opposition BNP.

Many Dhaka-bound commuters were seen hiring various small vehicles with high fares to get to their destinations.

Kamrul Islam Khan, station master of Narayanganj Railway Station, said, "Right after a train left the station at 10:15am, police informed us about the bomb threat. As a result, a train scheduled to depart Kamalapur rail station at 11:35am was halted."

"Four hours later, after the threat turned out to be a hoax, a train left the Narayanganj station around 2:18pm, resuming the rail service on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route," the station master added.

At around 11:30am, at a checkpoint at the signboard area of ​​the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, police told reporters about receiving information about explosives being planted on the Dhaka-Narayanganj rail route, and that the Sadar and Fatullah police stations were tasked with conducting a search on the tracks.