Around 750 passengers of the New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Special had a harrowing time on Thursday when the 22-coach train was detained at Daltonganj railway station since 6.40am following a big stir at the Tori railway junction by Tana Bhagats, ‘disciples’ of Mahatma Gandhi.

The situation was tense at the junction, where hundreds of Tana Bhagats of all ages have been sitting on railway tracks since Wednesday evening, demanding their right to hold land under the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, which land revenue officials have been depriving them of.

Local railway officials expressed their helplessness of the situation, infuriating the passengers, some of whom threatened to sue the railways for jeopardizing their lives amid the Covid pandemic.

The Telegraph Online has a copy of SDO Latehar’s letter to the divisional railway managers of Dhanbad and Ranchi divisions, apprising them of the situation, hinting at any possible dislocation of rail traffic as well.

Sources said the railways just did not take the developing situation seriously and ran its train through Tori.

“Tori railway station and the Tana Bhagats squatting there all fall under Latehar district and the SDO Latehar had done the right thing to inform the two DRMs about the stir on the railway tracks on Wednesday itself. However, the railways ignored and overlooked the gravity of the stir and ran this train only to cause hardships to the passengers,” said SP Ajay Linda.

Following the intervention of the state chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, DGP MV Rao, DC Shashi Ranjan and SP Linda, a fleet of buses was arranged for the stranded passengers to be taken down to Ranchi via the NH-75.

Linda said more than a dozen buses were pressed in for the stranded passengers to take them down to Ranchi.

Sources said many affluent stranded passengers hired cars for themselves and left for Ranchi at their own expense.

Sources said the local railway officials arranged tea and slices of bread for the stranded passengers from the train pantry car, said station superintendent Daltonganj railway station AK Tiwari.

Chatra MP Sunil Kumar Singh too tried to impress upon the railway officials the need to send the passengers to Ranchi via a diverted route on any other train, but in vain.

“My office sent a tweet to union railway minister Piyush Goyal in this regard also,” he said to The Telegraph Online.

Railway sources said had this train been diverted in the wake of the stir, the present situation would not have arisen at all.