Sodepur: Passengers ransacked the stationmaster's room, hurled stones and demolished stalls of hawkers at Sodepur railway station, on the northern fringe, following a wrong announcement about a train during the morning rush hour on Wednesday.

The station authorities announced that a Sealdah-bound train would arrive on platform 2. The train did come but did not stop - it was a "galloping" train.

In the mayhem that followed, a passenger was hit by one of the stones that exasperated commuters were throwing indiscriminately. The services on both Up and Down lines were disrupted for nearly three hours since 10am. At least 12 local trains had to be cancelled, officials said.

The station authorities announced around 9.45am, when the platforms were chock-a-block with daily commuters, that a Down Gede local would shortly arrive on platform 2.

All city-bound commuters gathered on platform 2, only to watch in utter frustration the train pass through.

As it dawned on the passengers that they had been misled by the announcement, a section of youths blocked the tracks, stopped an Up train and attacked the stationmaster's room, situated on the main line of Sealdah's suburban network.

Another group of passengers pelted an Up train with stones and damaged the cabins of the driver and the guard. When some hawkers protested, some of the passengers attacked them and ransacked their stalls.

"Many lives could have been lost today as passengers stood at the edge of the platform, thinking that the train would stop. Some of the commuters tripped and fell," recounted Shantanu Ghosh, a daily commuter.

A contingent from GRP and a team from the local Ghola police station reached the station. The blockade was finally lifted after around three hours of persuasion by the police.

Eastern Railway officials said they would inquire into the allegation that a wrong announcement had been made. "Train services were hit because of interlocking work at Halisahar," an official said.