Davanagere: In a rare incident, a passenger train was detained at Harihar Railway station for more than than one-and-a-half hours on Monday after the court directed attachment of the train for the non-payment of compensation towards land acquisition.
The railways had acquired 1.16 acres from M?S?Shivakumar in Doggalli village for the Harihar-Kottur rail line ten years ago. The court had ordered the railways to pay a compensation of Rs 37.21 lakh to Shivakumar. Since the money was not paid, the civil judge (senior division), directed attachment of the train on October 18. As ordered by the court, the court officials detained the Dharwad-Bengaluru Intercity Express (Siddhaganga Express) at Harihar station at 8 am. Shivakumar said that only after the payment of the said amount, the train would be allowed to leave the station. The railway police had a tough time in controlling the situation.
Finally, after discussing the issue with the senior officials in Mysuru and Hubballi, the Assistant Engineer (Construction), Davangere, gave an undertaking on behalf of the department to resolve the matter within seven days. The train left the station thereafter.
