Two passengers were injured when a stone thrown at the Dhaka-bound “Parjatak Express” shattered a window of a non-air-conditioned coach near Dulahazara in Chakaria upazila last night (30 July).
According to eyewitnesses, the train left Cox’s Bazar Railway Station at 7:47pm and was hit by a stone thrown from outside around 8:30pm after passing the Islamabad area of Chakaria.
The stone smashed a window of coach “Jha,” and the broken glass cut the hand of passenger Biplob Kumar Das, who was seated in seat No 11. Another passenger, identified only as Dipto, also sustained an injury to his hand.
Biplob, an employee of the Cox’s Bazar District Judge’s Court, was given first aid on the train.
Tawhid Murad, an official of a development organisation who was seated beside the damaged window in seat No 12, said he had closed the window and was working on his laptop when the stone struck.
“There was a loud bang, and the glass shattered. It fell on me, but I was not injured. The passenger sitting next to me suffered cuts to his hand,” he said.
Attempts to contact Farhan Mahmud, divisional transport officer of Bangladesh Railway’s Chattogram division, were unsuccessful.
Nurul Huda, officer-in-charge of Chattogram Railway Police Station, told The Business Standard that he was unaware of the incident and was looking into it.
Other passengers alleged the train attendants and guards took some time to reach the coach after the incident.
According to Bangladesh Railway data, at least 147 stone-throwing incidents were reported on various routes in the eastern region over the past year, injuring 40 passengers.
The Cox’s Bazar route had the highest number of such incidents, with 40 cases reported in the past year and 15 passengers injured.
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