Railway blocked for 9 hours in Rajshahi over alleged TTE assault on RU student
The incident took place early today aboard the Dhaka-bound Padma Express as it was passing through Sirajganj.
Students of Rajshahi University staged a nine-hour-long blockade of the railway tracks over an alleged assault on a student by a travelling ticket examiner (TTE). They later lifted the blockade after the Railway temporarily suspended the accused staff.
The incident took place early today (21 July) aboard the Dhaka-bound Padma Express as it was passing through Sirajganj.
The victim, Furkan Uddin, a student from the university's law department, alleged that TTEs Suman and Raju were collecting money from ticketless passengers without issuing receipts. When he protested, he was allegedly beaten up before being taken to the train's doorway and faced an attempt to push him off the moving train.
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TTE Suman told TBS that the student only had a ticket for the Ullapara-Rajshahi route, while he travelled from Dhaka. "We compelled him to buy a ticket for Dhaka-Ullapara section, which made him angry."
"At one stage, he verbally abused me, and tore my coat. Then I punched him. The accusation that I took money without receipt from another passenger is not true," Suman said.
The student, however, claimed that he had a ticket.
Students blocked the railway line near the university's Faculty of Fine Arts gate from around 6:30am, disrupting rail services between Rajshahi and the rest of the country.
The protesting students placed four demands: that the accused be produced before them in person; that he be permanently dismissed and face legal action over the "bribery" and "attempted murder"; that the victim be compensated; and that all long-distance trains make a scheduled stop at Rajshahi University Railway Station.
The Rajshahi divisional commissioner constituted a five-member probe committee comprising the additional district magistrate, representatives of the Railway Security Force, and Rajshahi University.
Earlier, Western Railway had formed a separate three-member committee to investigate the incident from the railway's side.
Authorities also decided to provide medical treatment to the assaulted student either at a railway hospital or, if preferred, at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
They further agreed to discuss the possibility of introducing late-night intercity train stoppages at Rajshahi University Railway Station and to hold another official meeting on 6 August to review progress.
