Man killed by train, mob stalls rail traffic for 4 hours

Kolkata: Angry mob put up a railway blockade for nearly four hours at Mecheda in East Midnapore after a local man was knocked down by a speeding train on Friday morning.

Alam Khan (38), the victim, was a resident of Purba Bahala village at Kolaghat.

At around 7.30 am he was crossing the tracks riding a cycle through an unmanned level-crossing.

Alam was about to catch a train after parking his cycle at the stand near the railway station.

A Digha-bound train from Santragachhi hit him killing him at the spot, according to preliminary investigations.

The locals, however, alleged that Alam was lying with deep injuries for a long time. But the railways did not rush him to any hospital.

From 8 am the angry locals blocked train movements. They started demonstrating with the body.

According to them, a longstanding demand for building an overbridge was not met by the railways.

Several long distance and local trains got stranded due to the rail blockade.

Railway officials claimed that the protesters also hurled stones at the station during their agitation.

At around 12 pm the blockade was withdrawn after the demonstrators were assured by the railway officials.