West Bengal’s 'haunted' Begunkodar railway station

08/04/20 • 9 min

Begunkodor is a hamlet in Purulia district of West Bengal which came into limelight for its shady railway station. There have been sightings of a woman draped in a white saree walking along the deserted railway tracks. Word has it that this woman was run over (or perhaps committed suicide) by a train. The sighting of her ghost has even lead to the death of railway personnel. The government has, however, dismissed these rumours as baseless. In 2009, after being abandoned for 42 years, this railway station once again resumed its services to the public.

The legend of Begunkodar has that in 1967, the stationmaster saw an apparition – a woman in white. She kept returning over several nights. He died of fright. The next stationmaster quit his job, and along with him the other staff. Since then no train had an official stoppage at the station, until the present decade, when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rubbished claims of paranormal activity.

Colonel Barog, who was a British railway engineer, was the mastermind behind the construction of the namesake tunnel. By a quirk of fate, Barog had to face humiliation before his co-workers due to a misjudgement in his work. He was further penalised by the government by slapping a fine on him. As a result, he became so depressed with the turn of events that he shot himself dead during a walk. His body at that time was buried outside the tunnel, which is still incomplete

Background music Credit: Liam Seagrave

Youtube link for background music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipNqY9wHPqg

Rabindra Sarobar Metro Station, West Bengal

Begunkodor Station, West Bengal

Chittoor Station, Andhra Pradesh

Barog Station, Himachal Pradesh

Ludhiana Station, Punjab

Naini Station, Uttar Pradesh

MG Road Metro Station, Delhi

Dwarka Sector 9 Metro Station, Delhi

Sources:

https://scroll.in/magazine/862609/haunted-trains-and-railway-stations-have-a-long-history-in-bengal-and-its-literature