Vikramshila Express train passengers hold Bhagalapur station chief hostage over AC malfunction

Passengers of Vikramshila Express created ruckus at Bhagalpur junction railway station on Sunday over non-functioning of air conditioner in a two tier AC bogie of the train. According to Prabhat Khabar, the passengers were agitated as the AC stopped functioning in A-1 coach of the train.

They got so furious that when the engineer came to fix the problem, some of the passengers manhandled him and even pulled him by his collar. However, the engineer’s attempts failed, and the train was given the signal to move without the AC being functional.

As the train moved, station superintendent Onkar Prasad, who was monitoring the work to fix the AC, was held hostage by passengers in the train. Railways officials got into action soon after with Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police personnel, along with sniffer dogs, rushed to the Sultanpur railway station.

The security personnel somehow managed to rescue the station superintendent and escorted him back to Bhagalpur junction railway station.

The report quoted some passengers as saying that when they boarded the train, they realised that the AC was not working and hence immediately informed the coach attendant. However, he did not pay much heed to the issue, which instigated the passengers to get agitated.

Following this, the engineer arrived with his subordinates and they failed to resolve the issue, a verbal argument started between them and the passengers. Later, passengers were assured that the AC would start working in half an hour and the train was moved from the station. It was then that the passengers held the station superintendent hostage. They said that they would set him free only after the problem was fixed, even if it meant taking him along to the national capital.

No FIR has been registered by both the sides in the case so far.