BENGALURU: OVER 200 farmers forced their way into the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (Bengaluru City) railway station on Saturday evening demanding they be allowed to travel ticketless to their hometown. As a result, the departure of the Chamundi Express and the Mysore Passenger was considerably delayed, causing much hardship to regular commuters.
According to a railway source present at the spot, “Farmers affiliated to the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) started trickling in groups from 5 pm and started boarding the Chamundi Express stationed on Platform 5 without tickets in hand.
“The farmers protested and raised slogans against the railway authorities,” he added. Meanwhile, railway authorities refused to permit the train to move. Other passengers on the train started arguing vociferously why their journey was getting delayed. .
“With the railway authorities not budging, the personal assistant of KRRS senior leader and Melukote MLA K S Puttanaiah purchased 150 tickets and showed proof of it to railway authorities,” stated a Commercial department official.
The farmers were then allowed to board the train, which left around 7.05 pm. The Mysore Passenger, scheduled to depart at 7 pm, left at 7.25 pm.
A group affiliated with KRRS had also blocked a passenger train at Maddur at 5.20 pm and delayed it by over an hour, another source said.