TIRUVARUR: Three railway officials, including a station master, were arrested for harassing girl students on a moving train near here. According to police, a group of students studying in various colleges in Nagapattinam boarded the Karaikal-Ernakulam Express on Tuesday evening. They were travelling to their native villages near Needamangalam.
While the train was going towards Tiruvarur, three persons in the coach, reportedly drunk, began harassing the girls.
At first, the three men began tugging at the handkerchieves of the girls and when the students resisted, the trio reportedly pulled their dupattas. S Suresh (17) of Aadanoor near Needamangalam, a student of marine engineering in a Nagapattinam college, reportedly chastised the three persons who were harassing the girls.
Following this, the trio attacked Suresh. An injured Suresh and the girl students complained to the Railway police at Tiruvarur as soon as the train reached there. Railway police sub-inspector
P Senthamarai conducted an inquiry and detained the persons who had harassed the students in the train.
During the inquiry, the trio was identified as G Arunraj (26) of Ammapettai, working as Railway station master in Tiruvarur,
K Prabakaran (26) of Thanjavur Railway Colony working as gatekeeper in Pandaravadai railway station and D Prabhu (30), working as a pointsman in Pandaravadai railway station.
The Tiruvarur railway police, based on a complaint by Suresh, registered a case under section 4(1) (J) (consuming liquor) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 294 (b) (uttering obscene words), section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and arrested Arunraj, Prabakaran and Prabhu.
Meanwhile, Suresh has been admitted to Tiruvarur Medical college hospital for treatment.