BENGALURU: A senior ticket checker in the Bengaluru Railway Division has been suspended on Wednesday for allegedly misbehaving with a female passenger in an inebriated condition, said sources.
The incident took place at the Krishnarajapuram railway station around 6 pm after the Howrah-SMVT Express stopped for crossing with another.
The Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh confirmed the suspension of Deputy Chief Ticket Inspector Santhosh.
"Strong and appropriate action will be taken against such behaviours. We have guidelines to be followed in such cases and we are deciding on the action to be taken," he told The New Indian Express.
Videos of the woman confronting the TTE on the railway station platform, reportedly on Tuesday, have been posted on Twitter by a user. In the videos, a woman can be seen shouting at the TTE, asking him why he pulled her after she showed him her tickets.
As the TTE, who was allegedly drunk, shouts back at the woman, a group of men who were standing nearby and watching the incident unfold, came to her aid and caught hold of him as he tried to flee from the spot. They alleged that he was drunk on duty.
The tweet went viral with many asking the railway minister to take action against the TTE.
Railway officials said they will provide details on the incident later.
Woman passenger did not file a complaint: Railway cops
In one of the videos, the woman is heard asking the ticket inspector in Hindi and English, “Why are you pulling me? I have the ticket.” The inspector is also heard abusing her in Hindi.
However, the railway police said that the woman passenger did not file a complaint. Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh, said, “We have suspended the ticket inspector with immediate effect. The order was issued on Wednesday. We have guidelines to be followed in such cases and we will act against him,” he told The New Indian Express.
The incident took place around 6 pm after Howrah-SMVT Express arrived at KR Puram railway station. It is said that the accused, deputy chief ticket inspector V Santhosh, was drunk at that time. The Railways acted against him after videos of the incident went viral on social media.
Vishwanath Sinha, an IT professional, who rushed to the woman’s rescue, said, “I was walking with my wife and two children when I saw the ticket inspector asking the woman passenger something. He pulled the mask she was wearing and touched her face.
I sensed something wrong and rushed to her rescue. He looked drunk. Initially, nobody bothered to help her when she was arguing with him. I left my wife and kids behind and rushed to the spot. There were three cops, including a woman, some distance away. But they did not intervene.”
Another passenger, Karishma Behera, who shot two videos and tweeted last night, said, “Seeing the ticket inspector abusing and misbehaving with the woman passenger, I rushed to her help. Meanwhile, a few people gathered there and took the ticket inspector to task.”