KALYAN: Complaining about the "low quantity and high price" of food provided by IRCTC staffers proved costly for passengers on Gitanjali Express train. The passengers were allegedly assaulted and one of them, a social worker who was helping the others, was held hostage by IRCTC staffers for over an hour until RPF rescued him.
On the complaint of social worker Satyajit Burman, Kalyan GRP registered a case against seven IRCTC staffers, including Ranjeet Behera, Suman Karan, and five other unidentified persons, under the BNS Act. Kalyan GRP has handed over the case to Badnera GRP for further probe.
Burman, who works as a social worker in Ambarnath, had gone to Kolkata for work and was returning to Mumbai by the Howrah-Mumbai Gitanjali Express on April 6. When the train was about to reach Badnera, Burman heard some passengers arguing with pantry car employees.
In his complaint, Burman said when he approached them, he found three passengers alleging that the pantry car was providing less food than the weight fixed by IRCTC and demanding more money for it.
When Burman objected to this, the staffers told him to go and weigh the food on the weighing scale in the pantry car.
Burman went to the pantry car with the three passengers —Maidul Mallik, Ashiqul Haq and Najrul Sheikh—to get the food packets weighed.
However, when Burman and the three passengers entered the pantry car, the pantry car manager allegedly accused him of instigating passengers, snatched his mobile phone, beat him up, and forcibly made him sit there. Burman alleged, "The other IRCTC staff present there threatened the passengers too, and some of them even hit them and made them return to their compartment."
After this, one of the passengers who was chased away called the RPF helpline number. Police reached the pantry car, rescued Burman from there, and sent him to his seat.
When the train reached Kalyan, Burman informed local Kalyan GRP about the matter the next day, April 7, and registered a case against all seven pantry employees.
Kalyan GRP's senior police inspector Pandharinath Kande said since the incident happened in the jurisdiction of Badnera GRP, they have forwarded the case to them.
Samir Zaveri, a railway activist, said, "The incident shows how contractors appointed by IRCTC are looting passengers, and those raising their voice against them are being beaten up. I demand the railway take action against them, bring transparency in their services, and do surprise checks."
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