BENGALURU: Close on the heels of a senior railway ticketing official in the Bengaluru Railway Division getting dismissed from service for his misbehaviour with a lady passenger, it has now come to light that an IT professional was on Tuesday (April 18) dragged by his collar, his spectacles removed and spoken to in a humiliating manner by a senior ticketing officer. The incident happened on Platform One of the KSR railway station at 9.15 am.
The issue boils down to the UTS app on the phone of Karthik Poojar not opening when the chief ticketing supervisor B M Radhakrishnan wanted him to produce his travel ticket. The rude behaviour and the manhandling in public has traumatised Poojar. Shockingly, Radhakrishnan, who has 31 years of service in Indian Railways, claimed that he saved the passenger from entering a moving train by dragging him by his collar!
Poojar, a regular commuter between KSR and Whitefield for his work, told TNIE, “I had alighted at the city railway station Metro station and was on my way to board my train to Whitefield. The ticket checker asked me for my ticket and I told him it was on my phone and opened the UTS app. Despite repeated attempts, it did not open and the words internet connectivity issue were displayed. I was explaining this to him but he asked me to pay up the fine and leave. The official was addressing me in the singular and spoke very rudely too.”
The IT professional explained that he had a regular season ticket and showed the ticket checker a screenshot of it too. “I told him the train was about to leave. He removed my spectacles. He also grabbed me by my collar and told me I could not go. I had no plans to run away at all. I am fully aware that one must produce a ticket when asked and cannot leave,” he said.
Poojar also explained the issue to a Deputy Station Manager who passed by. “Later, I was taken to the Deputy SMR room. I was repeatedly trying to open the app and later installed and uninstalled the app and was able to log in with the help of a junior railway official. I was able to finally show him the ticket. I took a bus and Metro and finally reached my office by 11.20 am, late by one and half hours," he added.
Radhakrishnan claimed that Poojar was running away to board the train. “I have actually saved his life by holding his collar. We were on Platform One and his train was on PF Two and I felt he would trespass the tracks and board the train. He was abusing Indian Railways as the app was not working. He abused Railways and so I was rude to him.”
He assured this reporter he would be polite to passengers in the future.