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Station master bears the brunt

V. S. Sambandan

COLOMBO: An enraged railway commuter in Sri Lanka bit a station master's hand at a suburban railway station on Friday, angered at a train running "too fast." The man-bites-man incident occurred at Polgahawela station, 80 km from Colombo, at 6.10 a.m. after a "heated argument between the commuter and the station master," the state-run Daily News reported. Though there have been commuter protests against train delays, including an assault on an engine driver at the same station a few days ago, such an incident being triggered by a train running fast appeared to be ironic. "The argument started when the commuter complained to the station master that a train was coming too fast. When a few persons present at the station tried to beat the commuter and lock him up in a room at the station, the commuter bit the station master's hand," the newspaper quoted the police as saying. The attacker was arrested. This was the third incident involving irate commuters and railway workers in recent times.

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