The railways suspended the Bhagalpur-Hansdiha passenger train from Monday because of a jurisdiction dispute and security posers.

On December 22 last year, Union minister of state for railways, Adhir Chowdhury, had flagged off the train that passes through Bounsi.

But since the very beginning, there has been a dispute over a proposed halt for the train at Danre in Jharkhand.

Some villagers in Jharkhand claim that the halt was being constructed at Sukhiya village in Banka district of Bihar and not Danre. In fact, Danre is not connected with railway tracks at all. So the villagers want the halt to be made at Salaiya village.

The foundation stone for the halt was laid on September 14. On that day, a mob comprising hundreds of villagers had blocked the railway tracks near Salaiya for four-and-a-half hours. The driver and guard on the train were also reportedly assaulted.

Sanjit Kumar, a resident of Danre village in Godda district of Jharkhand, said: “Funds to the tune of Rs 25 lakh have been released from the MPLAD of Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP from Godda. Deputy commissioner K. Ravi had sanctioned the funds for the construction of the Danre halt. But the halt is being constructed in Bihar, around 1.5km north of Danre.”

Confirming the suspension of the train service, Ravindra Gupta, divisional railway manager, Malda, said the railway had no other option. “We had to stop the service as we did not want an untoward incident to occur because of the violent protests.”

The suspension of services has hit passengers hard. While the train fare from Bhagalpur to Hansdiha is Rs 12, taking a bus would cost each passenger Rs 70.