Kolkata: People, agitating against the amended Citizenship Act, on Friday set on fire the Beldanga railway station complex in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district and blocked tracks and vandalised the complex at the Uluberia railway station in Howrah district, officials said.
RPF personnel deputed at Beldanga railway station were also thrashed by thousands of people while a train driver was injured at Uluberia station.
Meanwhile. the blockade at Uluberia started around 3.22 pm and train movements in both the up and down lines are affected, South Eastern Railway spokesperson Sanjoy Ghosh said.
The driver of the 12841 Howrah-Chennai Corommandel Express was injured as agitators hurled stones at the train, he said.
The platforms of the station were vandalised and an empty rake of the Humsafar Express was also damaged, he said.
“No passenger was injured in the incident, as per initial reports,” Ghosh said, adding that the railways have sought assistance of the state government to deal with the situation.
The Howrah-Kharagpur section of the South Eastern Railway is affected due to the blockade and several trains, including some suburban locals and the 22897 Howrah Digha Kandari Express are stuck, he said.
Thousands of people from the Muslim community also blocked the National Highway 6 in the area.
In Beldanga, several minority organisations in the district had called for mass protests, according to district police sources.
“The protestors all of a sudden entered the railway station complex and set the platform, two-three buildings and railway offices on fire. When RPF personnel tried to stop them, they were brutally beaten up,” said a senior RPF official.
“Train services have come to a halt here,” he added.
Muslim-dominated Murshidabad is a district bordering Bangladesh.