Rail services hit as vagabond climbs height bar

Kolkata: There was much tension, anxiety and drama after a vagabond climbed a railway height bar in the suburban Patipukur station of Eastern Railway, disrupting train service, police said on Sunday.

The youth went atop the height bar at around 9 pm on Saturday and refused to come down despite pleas from the locals.

Railway GRP and RPF rushed in, while top railway officials also reached the spot and ordered a power block, leaving several long distance and goods trains stranded.

When fire brigade personnel arrived at the spot, they also initially failed to bring the man down.

Finally, after a nine-hour drama, the fire brigade personnel brought in a tower van and used ladders to reach the vagabond.

After unsuccessful efforts to make him see reason, two firemen used force to bring him down in the wee hours of Sunday.