RAWALPINDI, Sept 5: Civil Judge Rana Mohammad Azam on Monday remanded 10 train passengers in judicial custody for two weeks on the charge of destroying railway property and holding the station master of Tarki hostage after the breakdown of the engine there on Sunday.

Sajid Anwar, Yasir Ali, Mohammad Irfaat, Mohammad Waheed, Safdar Shah, Saqheer, Mohammad Farooq, Waseem, Mudasir and Mohammad Bilal were going to Karachi from Rawalpindi when the engine of the train broke down at the Tarki station.

The railway sent another engine from Rawalpindi to pull the train but it also failed to work. The passengers staged a protest demonstration at the railway station.

According to the superintendent police (railway) Ulfat Ali, the passengers held the station master hostage and suspended the train traffic for an hour. The passengers also burnt the furniture.

Due to suspension of the railway traffic, the police arrested the passengers and shifted them to Rawalpindi.

When contacted, Railway Divisional Superintendent Tariq Khan said the train engine had broken down twice and it was not the fault of Pakistan Railways.

To a question, he said action was taken against the passengers after they suspended the railway traffic.

Meanwhile, trains continued running late on Monday. Awami Express from Karachi reached Rawalpindi eight hours late; Quetta Express, which was scheduled to arrive at 4pm, chugged in 10 hours late; Jaffar Express was due at 1:30pm but it was expected to arrive at 5am on Tuesday; Hazara Express reached at 6pm instead of 11:25am and Margallah Express was also late for two hours.