Tk 2.5cr railway track materials looted
Authorities turn a blind eye in Lalmonirhat
Rail lines and sleepers on abandoned Lalmonirhat-Mogholhat route are disappearing fast as a section of unscrupulous people have continued stealing the materials allegedly with the connivance of some dishonest railway staff.Photo: STAR
Railway track materials worth Tk 2.5cr have been stolen from four-kilometre stretch of the abandoned nine-kilometre-long Lalmonirhat-Mogholhat railway in the last two years but the authorities are yet to take any action against the perpetrators. An organised gang comprising 40 to 50 thieves of Fulgachh, Bishbari and Durakuti villages of Lamonirhat Sadar upazila has continued stealing railway track assets from the abandoned track allegedly with the connivance of some railway police and railway engineering department officials and influential people, locals said. The remaining rail line and sleepers of the abandoned track would disappear within a short time if the authorities fail to take immediate steps to stop the theft, they said. The Lalmonirhat-Mogholhat railway line had been in operation since the British period and two trains used to ply the route twice a day. But the track has remained abandoned since 1996 when the railway authority stopped train movement on the route. Azizur Rahman of Bisbari village said several times they had called the railway police to catch the thieves red-handed but the police did not respond. UP member Lokman Hossain of Mogolhat union said they had sent written complaint to the railway authority several times but to no effect. The officer-in-charge of Lalmonirhat GRP Police Station, Zahir Pramanik, however, said, "The duty of government railway police is to ensure passengers' safe train journey. They are not to discharge duty outside the station platform unless the railway authority seeks their help. It is the responsibility of the engineering department to take necessary steps for saving railway lines, sleepers and other assets." "The GRP will go into action only after the engineering department files any case or complaint," he said. Lalmonirhat Railway Divisional Engineer Asadul Haque said that his office had sent a letter to the higher authority on August 10 for immediate steps to stop stealing of the rail line, sleepers and other materials from the abandoned railway track, but they were yet to get any response. "Until the higher authority takes steps, the GRP will stand guard both inside and outside the station platform to protect the railway assets," he said.
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