Darjeeling: A migrant worker jumped off a running train followed by 7 others who got off after pulling the chain.
The incident occurred at Rajgunj Belakoba area of the Jalpaiguri district.
On Saturday evening a Shramik Special train from Hyderabad was on the way to Assam when the 8 migrant workers deboarded.
Out of the eight, six are from Panjipara and the remaining from Alipurduar. Mintu Rai, a resident of Hasuapara area of Belakoba stated that he had heard the sound of the train coming to a screeching halt he saw some people
jump off from the train on the tracks.
The local residents stopped these migrant workers from running away. The police and RPF were called in.
Mihir Biswas, a migrant worker from Panjipara stated that 8 of them had gone to Bangalore to work during pujas. "We were facing a lot of problems owing to lack of jobs and the lockdown. We were returning home. At Panjipara the train did not stop. When the train halted at NJP we were not allowed to get down. The train started running. We were told that it was going to Assam. How would we return from Assam? One of us jumped off from the running train. In order to save him, we pulled the chain and got down. We want to return home," Biswas said.
Sunil Kumar Paswan, officer of the RPF, Jalpaiguri, stated that they have undergone thermal scanning. "After preliminary interrogation they have been handed over to the Belakoba police," Paswan said.