Spooked at a railway station in Bengal

Two visitors from Rajasthan meet an aggressive evil spirit at a desolate station in Bengal. So, how were they saved?

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Begunkodor railway station in Purulia district of West Bengal, which grabbed headlines for its own eerie incidents, has been billed as one of India’s most haunted stations and remained abandoned for years.  

After staying in isolation for decades, the station’s train operations resumed only a few years ago, though with a much lower frequency.

On average, only one train halted at Begunkodor in a day, and that too, in the evening, making it the perfect time for ghost busters to spend a “bone-chilling” night at the station.

Many tales were associated with the station. And, most spoke about a pale looking virulent woman in her thirties, who moved around the area, with the neck hanging as if it were somewhat detached from the head and the face was full of scars.

There was one station master, who came two hours before a train arrived and rushed out of the station before dark. In case a train got late, he never came to the station.

The station master had only one helper, who arrived and left with him. Besides, there was a sweeper, who cleaned the station twice a week.

There was also a plumber, a maintenance man and an electrician, who lived in the nearest village (around 12 kms away) and came once a week.

Security concerns were there from antisocial elements but the police in the district refused to be on duty at the station during the night.

Despite all this, the station caught the fancy of some wandering tourists and a few journalists, who rustled up horror stories to create some excitement in the media.   

Among the visitors were Rangoli and friend Jackie — both in their late twenties — who landed in Begunkodor from Rajasthan.

They got along with them some special equipment and a litany of cameras to record ghost sightings.

Their train was one hour late. It was almost 6:30 pm in the winter of 2019 that they reached the station.

Usually, three or four groups of ghost hunters are seen on most days as this station’s paranormal activity was known across India and even some people from the UK and the US had come to investigate the railway station’s unusual happenings.

But that day, there seemed to be no one except the two.

Around 5 pm, the assistant of the station master comes in a jeep and switches on the mains and the lights of the station and within 10 minutes, he leaves.

That evening, it was well lit as well. The covered area was bright but a 50-metre walk, to the uncovered part, saw the station engulfed in darkness.

Rangoli decided to sit on one of the benches in the covered area while Jackie ventured to the uncovered part to explore the station.

Rangoli was sitting on a bench and soon after she felt a presence. Looking to her right, there it was. The evil spirit that everyone talked about was just sitting beside her.

The spirit, a woman in her thirties, was in a white sari with a deep cut on the neck — that made its head jut out from the body. It gave a menacing look at Rangoli, as if telling her to get out of the station immediately.

Rangoli never expected that a ghost’s presence would terrify her so much. She had landed confidently in the station, eager to see a ghost. But she never expected anything like this.

She had no intention of clicking any photo of the ghost and shouted for help. In the distance, her voice was feeble.

After she shouted again, Jackie heard Rangoli and rushed to her aid, leaving all his equipment behind.

Jackie was sitting on the bench trying to give Rangoli some encouragement but in between sat the apparition, who pushed both of them from the bench. It was clearly trying to convey the message, “Get out … or else.”

Yes, Jackie and Rangoli were petrified and couldn’t imagine that they would have an encounter like this. They wanted to just go.

But there was no place to go. There wasn’t a hotel nearby and the nearest village was around 12 km away.

So, they went to the outer part of the station and parked themselves at the place where Jackie had kept the equipment.

They were almost trembling, and after a while, chose to leave the station.

As Rangoli and Jackie scurried to go elsewhere with their equipment and camera, they thought they heard the sound of a vehicle.

Yes, it was a noisy diesel commercial vehicle indeed, from where four men alighted. But Rangoli saw them from a distance and clearly realised that they simply didn’t come for a walk. She knew it was time to leave and leave quickly. 

But one of the four, who alighted from the vehicle, spotted them and alerted the others. They all rushed towards Rangoli and Jackie and nabbed them.

They four became even more excited when they saw the equipment the duo was carrying. “It must be worth Rs 700,000,” Raju, leader of the notorious local gang, thought.

Such a big catch was unprecedented and Raju, along with accomplices Montu, Rakeeb and Param, decided to celebrate.

They had some spicy mutton curry along with rice and parathas, soaked in oil, inside the car. They also kept a generous stock of local alcohol so that they never ran out of stock.

They tied Rangoli and Jackie with thick ropes to two pillars and the celebrations began.

The four voraciously started eating the mutton along with the parathas and rice and didn’t keep a count on their drinks…     

…It was well past 2 am and was becoming uncomfortable for Rangoli and Jackie, who were tied up for more than three hours.

The sozzled goons were in no position to sit and while two of them lay on the ground, the other two slept on their stomach.

Then suddenly, the ghost reappeared in front of Rangoli and Jackie. Looking at them, it started growling.

Rangoli and Jackie thought the goons were a better option. At least, they would be alive with them.

But the spirit had other plans. In a jiffy, it went near Raju and took out the vehicle’s keys from his pocket without any of his accomplices noticing. It then untied Rangoli and Jackie and told them, “Gohhhhhho.”

Jackie and Rangoli got into the vehicle, taking their equipment as well as their cameras, and it took a while for the ignition to start.

As the vehicle started, it zoomed out of the station and was gone in no time.

Inside the car, Jackie and Rangoli thought why was the spirit so aggressively telling them to leave the station.

Yes, it wanted to save them from these rogues!