Onlookers at the blast site. Picture by Biplab Basak

Belakoba (Jalpaiguri), Nov. 21: The face of Belakoba has changed overnight.

A small town that was till yesterday famous for its chamcham (a sweet) has suddenly shot into prominence after the explosion. As the mangled and desolate remains of blast-hit coach — GS 8321 — took centre-stage, a multitude of people traipsed through the town throughout the day. Everybody from politicians and policemen to reporters and curious villagers, all wanted a piece of the action. Hooting sirens and flashing beacons became the order of the day.

“We have never seen so many policemen here before, even during the jatras,” said Vidya, who runs a makeshift tea-stall just outside the station. The jatras, which are organised in winter every year, clearly mark the high point in the town’s social life. “This is the first time that we found policemen controlling traffic at the railway crossing and on the main roads in our town,” she said as she continued to boil water to cater to the increasing number of customers pouring in through the day.

“We believe this is the first bomb blast on a running train in the state. Last night we could not gather courage and have come here this morning,” said Runu Sarkar, a resident of Fatapukur, about 5 km away. Sarkar was one of the thousands who swarmed into town from adjacent villages like Sikarpur, Fatapukur, Talmahat and Dashdarga.

The crowd filled the station, prompting the policemen to drive them off at regular intervals as they hovered near the tracks, trying to have a closer look at the compartment.

As the day wore on, the number of onlookers increased. Suddenly a group of youths, watching television at a nearby club outside the station, started shouting in Rajbanshi, Mok TV tay dekhaiche! Mok TV tay dekhaiche! (They are showing us on TV), inviting more people to look at themselves, as all news channels telecast the incident through the day.

Daily commuters, however, showed remarkable grit as they resumed their daily run, barely hours after the incident. And as the on-duty station staff gave the signal the 618 Down Haldibari-NJP passenger passed through Belakoba today like any other day.