The ‘rail roko’ call given by Sikh organisations today to protest the CBI clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler and Lok Sabha tickets given by the Congress to him and Sajjan Kumar caused great inconvenience to the public. While several people had to wait for hours on railway stations, a large number got their bookings cancelled, resulting in a huge rush at reservation counters.

The protest, which started around 11 am in Jalandhar in the presence of a large number of police personnel, was led by Damdami Taksal leader Harnam Singh under the banner of Gurmat Sidhant Parcharak Sant Samaj. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar also sat in protest on the Delhi-Amritsar track at Dakoha Fatak in Jalandhar. It went on till 3 pm, amid slogans against the Congress, CBI, Tytler and Sajjan.

Jalandhar railway station Superintendent Ashok Kumar said since morning, they have been busy refunding ticket amounts to people. Jasbir Singh, a passenger who planned to take his father to a private hospital in Delhi for heart treatment, said due to the cancellation of trains, he was being forced to travel by road, causing great inconvenience.

Mumbai-bound Jatinder Preet Singh said he had come to Jalandhar to attend a relative’s wedding and is to report back to his job on April 10. “But now, reaching back in time looks very improbable,” he said.

Some Sikh religious groups (jathas), comprising scores of people, had also cancelled their pilgrimage to Hazoor Sahib, among other places, as their train could not be run today. Trains coming from Delhi were stopped before reaching Jalandhar. The Shan-e-Punjab was sent back from Khanna, the Amritsar-Ambala, Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar-Nawanshahr trains were cancelled and Shatabdi Express, Kathiar Express and Shaheed Express were stranded at different junctions. The Flying Mail and Jallianwala Bagh and Jan Sadharan trains were also stopped at Amritsar.

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