E-Paper
VIP quota reservation in trains: NER raids train, suspends TTE, fines six passengers
The incident took place in the 2nd AC compartment of Rapti Ganga Dehradun express train between Lucknow and Gorakhpur
In a swift action, officials of the North Eastern Railway (NER) suspended travelling ticket examiner (TTE) Prashant Srivastava allegedly allowing people to travel on berths reserved under the member parliament emergency reservation quota in the Railways.
The incident took place in the 2nd AC compartment of Rapti Ganga Dehradun express train between Lucknow and Gorakhpur when the vigilance team of the Railway Board conducted a raid near Bareilly.
In Dehradun Express that originated from Gorakhpur railway station on Saturday, police arrested six passengers for travelling on fraudulent tickets and charged ₹10,000 as fine from them and also registered the statement of the TTE.
Chief public relations officer of NER Pankaj Kumar Singh confirmed that after the incident, the TTE was suspended and an inquiry had been initiated to investigate the case. Officials said that 10 reservation tickets were booked in the name of BJP member of parliament from Salempur Ravindra Kushwaha, Nishad Party MP from Sant Kabeer Nagar Parveen Nishad, BJP MP from Kushinagar Vijay Dubey and BJP MP from Bansgaun Kamlesh Paswan.
At the time of the raid only MP Kamlesh Paswan was found travelling while three other MPs were not travelling. However, six other passengers travelling on seats reserved for MPs had no proper tickets of AC class. The vigilance team also contacted MPs on the phone and asked about reservations made by them but these MPs denied applying for reservation on the train.
Officials said that complaints were pouring in regarding reservations through VIP quota thus railway authorities had constituted vigilance team to check it.
Abdur Rahman
