SUKKUR, Nov 15: More than 3,500 Hindu pilgrims held a demonstration and a sit-in on railway tracks at Rohri Railway Station early on Saturday, forcing Super Express to stop for two hours, in protest against what they saw as unnecessarily stretched stopovers of the trains they had booked from Lahore for Larkana and Jacobabad.

The pilgrims belonging to Larkana, Warah, Mehar, Naudero, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore and a number of other cities and towns had gone to Lahore to attend three-day annual celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak at Nankana Sahib and had booked trains to reach their destinations.

When the trains reached Rohri railway station at about 10:00 am this morning, the railway officials stopped them for two hours without any reason, the protesters said.

In the meantime, Karachi-bound Super Express arrived at the railway station and after 15-minute stopover it started moving for its destination but the enraged pilgrims staged a sit-in on the tracks, forcing the train to stop for about two hours.

The protesters including Darshan Lal, Parkash and Ram Chandar told journalists that they had booked the trains from Lahore for Larkana and Jacobabad but due to unnecessary stopovers at several railway stations, the 10-hour journey had been stretched to 30 hours.

They alleged that the railway officials were demanding illegal gratification for letting the trains to move ahead.

Later, the station master of Rohri railway station Sagheeruddin talked to pilgrims and ordered the staff to let the trains go.

The station master denied the charge of demanding illegal gratification and said that the trains were stopped for refuelling.