Railway staff and employees demonstrated today in Chattogram city, demanding the cancellation of the lease for constructing an Inland Container Depot (ICD) on land that includes a graveyard, mosque, and water bodies in the Halishahar Chattogram Goods Port Yard (CGPY) area.

Under the banner of "CGPY Sarbadalio Sangram Parishad," nearly 150 railway employees, along with their families and local residents, gathered in front of the office of the general manager (GM) of Bangladesh Railway (East Zone) in the CRB area around 11:00 am.

During the demonstration, Railway Nirapatta Bahini (RNB) and police tried to block the protesters, but the employees defied the barricade and entered the office premises, chanting slogans such as "Cancel the lease" and "Save the graveyard, mosque, and shrine."

As tensions rose, police and security personnel locked the main entrance. Unable to enter, the workers formed a human chain and held a rally outside the office.

The protesters alleged that railway authorities deliberately leased 21.29 acres of land to a private company for the inland container depot (ICD) project, despite the area containing an old graveyard and mosque.

The burial site also hosts graves of railway staff and their family members, the speakers said.

MR Monju, general secretary of the Bangladesh Railway Nationalist Workers' Party, and Md Mojibur Rahman, general secretary of the Railway Running Staff and Workers' Union, among others, addressed the rally.

Around 12:00 pm, GM Md Shuboktagin held a half-hour meeting with a delegation of protesters. Following the meeting, he assured the employees.

"We are well aware of the issue. The director general and the railway secretary have also been informed and have visited the site. The graveyard, mosque, and shrine will stay intact. Tomorrow, the committee we formed will visit the sites and mark their boundaries."

Following these assurances, the workers called off their protest around 1:00 pm.