RailEnquiry

RANCHI: Passengers of trains plying to and from Ranchi and Hatia railway stations had a harrowing time on Sunday when chaos prevailed after thousands of SSC examinees hijacked seats and barged into reserved bogies and the Railway Protection Force failed to bring the situation under control.The Staff Selection Commission examination was conducted in two shifts - from 10 am to 12 noon and from 2pm to 4pm - and railway stations remained overcrowded throughout the day. "All trains which left Ranchi after 1pm were almost hijacked by the examinees. RPF even forced several of them out of the coaches," said a railway official.Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, which goes via Silli, Muri, Pundag, Bokaro, Gomoh and Giridih, was also crammed with examinees. "There is no other easy option to reach Pundag from here other than this train," said Sanjay Mahto, a B-Com student.Passengers of Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Super Fast Express and Maurya Express, which runs through Jamtara and Deoghar, had the same fate. Even roofs of the trains were also taken by the students.Ranchi is the only venue for the examination and students from across the state had no other option but to come to the city. "The exams are not conducted in Dhanbad and thus I have come here," said Ravi Shankar Pandey, a BSc student from Dhanbad.A K Gorai, RPF officer in-charge, said, "We cannot force students out of trains. But we tried our best to control the situation." Gorai said no formal complaint was lodged with the police station against any student. "Though there were few verbal complaints," said an RPF sub-inspector.On Hatia-Tata Passenger which left at 4:45pm a student traveled standing on the joining points of the two bogies as all the bogies were crammed with students and there was hardly any space inside. Similarly huge crowds of students were seen in Ranchi-Dumka Intercity Express, Ranchi Howrah Intercity Express which goes to Dhanbad and Hatia Patna Super Express which departed from Ranchi at 6:35pm.