‘Locked out’: Mahakumbh devotees, passengers pelt stones at Kalka Mail in Gaya

Irate Mahakumbh devotees and passengers with reserved seats pelted stones at the Kalka Mail (Howrah-Kalka 12311 Netaji Express) after the doors of all coaches were locked from the inside at Gaya station in Bihar on Tuesday morning. Several windowpanes of the train were damaged in the incident, officials said.

According to officials, the train arrived at the station at 6.28am, about 1.5 hours behind schedule. “All the coaches were already jam packed and the passengers had locked the doors from the inside. Despite the passengers on the station banging on the doors and windows and making noise, the doors were not opened,” railway officials said.

There was a huge crowd of devotees waiting for trains to reach Prayagraj to join the Mahakumbh. Led by the passengers who had reserved seats in the Netaji Express but could not enter, the mob reached the engine room and blocked the tracks.

The passengers relented and allowed the train to depart at 6.48am only after railway officials persuaded and assured them that they will be accommodated in other trains, Railway Protection Force (Gaya) inspector Ajay Prakash said.

Prakash said all the waiting passengers were accommodated in the Howrah-Jodhpur Express, Garba Express, Mumbai Mail, Kumbh Special and Dhanbad-Dehri-on-Sone Intercity Express trains. The Dhanbad Intercity Express was extended up to Prayagraj for the day to tackle the situation.