From vending machines to ticket counters, from offices to police control rooms, from computers to television screens and close circuit cameras -- everything inside the Mirpur-10 metro station was smashed to bits.

On Friday evening, miscreants carried out mindless destruction inside the Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations amid the ongoing unrest.

The scale of destruction was such that it would take at least a year to repair and replace the equipment and structures, authorities said.

The extent of destruction has also put a question mark on the resumption of metro service.

The metro rail authority suspended its operation for indefinite period from on Sunday, amid the ongoing unrest. Before the suspension, more than 3 lakh people used the metro services every day.

"There is nothing left... They damaged and looted everything needed for the operations…," said MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd, while visiting the Mirpur-10 station yesterday afternoon, along with other DMTCL officials.

While they were visiting the Mirpur-10 station, miscreants attacked the Kazipara station once again, another official said.

Asked when services at the stations can be resumed, MAN Siddique couldn't provide any timeframe.

"The people with technical knowledge, who visited the station [Mirpur-10] with me, said it would take at least a year to make the two stations operational," he said.

Asked whether the destruction will affect the resumption of overall metro rail operations, he said, "It's not possible to comment on the matter now. We will check all the aspects once the situation returns to normal."

Another official, who visited the Mirpur-10 station, said miscreants broke down the (north-west end) entrance gate. However, when they could not break the shutter on the first floor, they smashed the window glasses to get into the station.

They vandalised ticket counters, vending machines, fire extinguishers, TV screens, CCTV cameras and each and every room on the floor, the official said, wishing anonymity.

They even tried to break open the ticket vending machines to loot money, he said.

"It seems the attackers had a personal grudge against the metro rail…," he said.

Replying to a question, he said it would take some time to replace all these equipment and fix the rooms. For example, he said, they have to set up vending machines, which have to be customised as per our usability.

"Besides, all these sophisticated equipment need to be replaced. We also have to carry out trials before starting operations in the stations," he said.

Mass Rapid Transit Line-6, the country's first metro rail line, was made partially operational from Uttara to Agargaon in December 2022. The Agargaon-Motijheel section opened for service in October last year.

The government is implementing a Tk 33,472 crore project to build the 21.26km line from Uttara to Kamalapur, with most of the fund coming from Japan as loan.