Ananya, an LLB student at Banaras Hindu University, was the lone passenger to disembark from the Rajdhani Express that arrived from New Delhi in the wee hours on Friday.
The train was stranded at Daltonganj station, 300 km away, for several hours on Thursday due to an ongoing agitation. (More than 250 Tana Bhagats, both male and female, are agitating at Tori Junction performing puja, singing bhajans and cooking food on the railway tracks, affecting movement of several trains).
Perforce, more than 900 passengers on board the Rajdhani Express were transported to Ranchi by special buses but railway officials could not convince Ananya to take the ride.
In fact, she would have completed the last lap of her journey by car had she accepted the offer; but she declined the bus ride claiming that she had paid for the Rajdhani and would travel only by it.
She even convinced the railway officials it was her right to reach her destination by the train in which she had booked her berth in B 1 coach.
In fine fettle, she was received by her father Mukesh Kumar Chaudhury, an engineer in Heavy Engineering Corporation. The train, of course, had to take a circuitous route via Gaya and Bokaro. For her safety, women jawans of RPF were deployed in the train.