Mohammad Anwar, 34, came from Uttar Dinajpur district to Kolkata late on Wednesday not only to take part in the Trinamul Congress’s Martyrs’ Day rally but also to visit his relatives.
The farmer from Itahar said he found it convenient to come to the city as he could club attending the rally and meeting his relatives together.
Anwar said he did not have to pay the train fare as his leaders told him to show a paper badge with chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s picture on it if any ticket examiner asked for a ticket.
“No one asked for our tickets when we arrived on Wednesday night,” he said.
Anwar, who works as an agricultural worker in fields owned by others, said a general compartment ticket costs about Rs 150 from Itahar to Howrah. “If anyone asks for a ticket while we returning, I will buy one,” he said.
Rallyists injured in accident
Eleven Trinamul supporters who had come from South 24-Parganas to attend the rally at Esplanade in central Kolkata on Thursday were seriously injured on their way back home after their vehicle overturned on the Garden Reach flyover in the southwest.
Police suspect the Tata Ace overturned because of overloading and speeding.
The accident happened around 2.15pm, shortly after the Martyrs’ Day rally ended.
“The injured, who have been admitted to SSKM Hospital, said they were in a hurry to leave for home to avoid the rush of vehicles exiting the city after the meeting,” said a police officer.
The 11 rallyists were from Maheshtala, Rabindranagar and Metiabruz on the southwestern fringes of the city.
Officers of Garden Reach police station have seized the Tata Ace that overturned but the driver fled. The vehicle will be sent for a mechanical test to find out whether a fault was responsible for the accident.