Railway sources said around 25 CPM men came in the afternoon and forced the railway workers to stop the work. They said that the work was stalled even as the railway authorities had got “approval” from state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta beforehand.

The bone of contention is a part of the slum and an unauthorised mosque that would have to be razed to extend the platform towards Barasat. The protesting CPM cadres now want the plan to be changed and are demanding extension of the platform towards Sealdah.

“It is a very difficult thing to do as the plan has been approved and the tenders too have been approved. Extending the platform in the northern direction would mean filling up a pond that lies near the platform and this would overshoot the budget,” said a railway official. The official also said that the razing of the slums would deal a blow to the vote bank, something they were not willing to risk at the moment.