One of the trains that was vandalised by the students at Ranaghat station. Telegraph picture

Krishnagar, June 17: Around 3,000 college students, stranded at Ranaghat station on exam day because of a train disruption triggered by rain, went on the rampage this afternoon, prompting police to fire tear gas shells.

Trains on the Sealdah-Ranaghat section were travelling on a single line since 9am as an overhead wire had snapped because of the incessant rain, cutting the power supply in the other. But at least 10 trains got stranded in Ranaghat, Nadia, as the single line failed to cope with the traffic.

Around 1pm, the railways announced that the services were being stopped, sparking the fury. Around 3,000 students, from five colleges under Kalyani University, were waiting at the station expecting the services to normalise. They were to write their BA, BSc and Bcom Part I exams from 1pm.

“The students picked up stones from the tracks and started hurling them at the trains. Inside, seats were yanked off and lights and fans were smashed. Some of them began squatting on the tracks,” said Amitava Ghoshal, the railway police inspector-in-charge in Ranaghat, about 60km from Calcutta.

As reinforcements arrived, the mob turned more violent. Ghoshal said eight tear gas shells were lobbed. Ten policemen and five students were injured.

BA student Biswajit Poddar said: “The cancellation of the services was the last straw. Out patience gave way.”

“The railways ignored our requests for a special train to Kalyani,” said a girl from Santipur College.

The exam centres were in or around Kalyani. In the absence of trains, the only alternative was taking a bus from the highway 4km away. It takes about an hour to reach Kalyani by the road, double the time it takes by train.

A railway spokesman said the overhead power supply became normal at 1.14pm, but trains were stuck till 2.45 because of the students’ blockade.

University controller of exams Pradip Karori said the students who could not take their tests will be allowed to appear in a re-examination on July 1.