LAHORE: A Pakistani train driver and his assistant have been suspended from service after he stopped the train to purchase yogurt near a railway station in Lahore, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati on Tuesday suspended the driver and his assistant after a video went viral on social media showing the train driver stopping the train near the Kahna Kacha railway station in the provincial capital to buy yogurt, the Dawn newspaper reported.
After the video clip invited criticism of the railways department, which has been in trouble of late due to various issues like accidents, passenger safety and declining revenue, the minister took action and ordered the Pakistan Railways Lahore administration to suspend driver Rana Mohammad Shehzad and his assistant Iftikhar Hussain, it said.
"I will not tolerate such events in the future and allow anyone to use national assets for personal use," the minister warned in a statement.
Earlier in December, a ban was imposed on the use of mobile phones by locomotive drivers and assistants while on a journey, the report said.
They had also been barred from taking selfies, recording video and audio messages on their phones in all trains (passenger and goods), it added.
Respective divisional heads had also been directed to keep tracking crew members of a train (especially drivers and their assistants) and take prompt action if someone was flouting the orders.