Passengers vandalise Rajshahi railway station

Rajshahi, 28 Jan -Passengers went on a rampage at Rajshahi railway station on Tuesday morning in protest against the strike enforced by Bangladesh Railway's running staff to press home their demands including special post-retirement benefits.

Hundreds of passengers vadalised chairs, tables and other valuables at a TTE room and several chairs at the station.

On information, army personnel rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

The aggrieved passengers returned home after taking back train ticket money from counters. Moreover, those who booked tickets online were refunded through mobile phone.

Demanding punitive action against the train employees, one of the Dhaka-bound passengers Anwar Hossain questioned why the strikers didn’t raise the demand to the previous government.

“The staffers operated the trains even in hartals during the previous government and why they are holding passengers captive now?”

Moyen Uddin, manager at Rajshahi Railway Station, said six trains were scheduled to leave the station since the morning but none left.

A Rajshahi-bound train from Dhaka arrived at the station in the early morning, he said.

Aminul Islam, convenor at Rajshahi Running Staff Oikya Parishad, said as part of the central programme the train operations remain suspended here.

“The programme will continue till our demands are not met,” he said.

The running staff started work abstention from Monday midnight across the country as the complexity of payment of pension and gratuity benefits by adding running allowance (allowance) to the basic salary was not resolved.