TTE assaults commuter at Bandra station, suspended

The Bandra government railway police (GRP) has registered a non-cognisable (NC) offence against the TTE, Deepak Pandurang Rane.

The Western Railways (WR) on Saturday suspended a travelling ticket examiner (TTE), posted at Bandra station, after he allegedly manhandled a passenger.

A video grab showing the TTE (left) pushing the commuter. Another commuter shared the video on Twitter.

The Bandra government railway police (GRP) has registered a non-cognisable (NC) offence against the TTE, Deepak Pandurang Rane.

The incident took place inside the ticket checkers’ officer at Bandra railway station. A commuter, Pratik Shedge, was pulled up for travelling without a valid ticket and made to pay a fine. An argument broke out between Shedge and Rane. Shedge has alleged that Rane manhandled him even after he paid the fine.

A video of the incident taken by other commuters has gone viral on Twitter. Rane can be seen pushing and then slapping Shedge in the video.

The commuter, who posted the video from his Twitter handle @NairAmbarish, wrote, “A western railway ticket checker from Bandra station Deepak Pandurang Rane manhandled passenger Pratik Shedge. Passenger had a valid pass but the stamp on it wasn’t clear, still he paid the penalty. Post which Mr Deepak manhandled & slapped him.”

A senior WR official said, “The video was brought to our notice. Prima facie, it appears that it was the fault of the ticket examiner. We have suspended him for now.”

Sunil Kumar Jadhav, senior police inspector of Bandra GRP, said, “We have filed a non-cognisable offence and sent a negative report against the TC to the station manager. We will soon decide the further course of action.” However, no official complaint has been registered yet.

The railway authorities have decided to launch a detailed inquiry into the incident. Moreover, they plan to interact with passengers on Monday.

According to a statement released by the zonal railway, “Complaints on social media are also taken as formal complaints. We will conduct a thorough inquiry and speak to the passengers. The final decision will be taken then. As of now suitable action has been taken against the culprit ticket examiner.”