BENGALURU: In a shocking incident of physical violence between two railway employees, an AC mechanic of the Bengaluru Railway Division and a Travelling Ticketing Examiner of the Guntakal Division got into a major altercation and physical fight on board the Sampark Kranti Express in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The mechanic Arun Kumar has been arrested on Tuesday evening after an FIR under six sections was registered against him. 43-year-old Kumar is a Senior Technician in the Electrical AC department at Yesvantpur depot.
According to a highly placed railway source, the problem began when the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) of Train No 12649 from Yesvantpur to Hazrat Nizammudin asked Kumar to produce his ID card (which permits free travel for railway staff on the train) when checking passenger tickets. This was just after the train had left Bellary stn at 3.43 am and was on its way to Guntakal.
"The mechanic had refused to do so. A major altercation ensued between the two with the mechanic losing his cool and assaulting the TTE with the support of a few others onboard the train. Kumar had allegedly removed the fire extinguisher on the train and used it also to hit the TTE causing a bleeding head injury. The TTE was also robbed of his gold chain and mobile phone," the source said quoting the FIR copy filed by the TTE at the Guntakal Government Railway Police station.
When the train reached Guntakal railway station, the mechanic was made to alight and a few men known to the TTE assaulted him there. An FIR was filed by the TTE against the mechanic under Sections 384 (extortion), 353 (assault to deter a public servant from discharge of duty) 506 (criminal intimidation) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and 34 (criminal act by many persons) of the IPC Act. "The mechanic was arrested from Bengaluru by Tuesday evening," the source added.
Another source familiar with the development said, "The usage of fire extinguishers is just not acceptable. Imagine if it had rolled out and fallen on the tracks, the train could have suffered a derailment harming hundreds of passengers on board."