28 January,2009 07:31 AM IST | | Somita Pal
Bachao Singh refused to pay the fine, argued with the marshals and said that being an RPF constable, he could do as he pleased in the area
The incident took place on Sunday, when clean-up marshals were patrolling the lanes adjacent to Dadar station. RPF constable Bachao Singh was munching on paan, and shot a fountain of the red juice on the road.
When the marshals approached Singh, he refused to pay the fine. Instead, he argued with the marshals, saying he was an RPF constable and could do as he pleased in the area.
"He tried to run away, so two of us approached the nearby Dadar police chowkie," said Rajesh Dhusane, one of the four marshals who spent five hours in jail. When the two marshals left, the constable asked the others to follow him to the station office. In the meantime, he called his colleagues and thrashed the marshals. "The constables assaulted us and threw us behind bars," said Dhusane. Meanwhile, Krishna Kalantre and Sandeep Shivalkar, the other two marshals returned empty handed as the cops refused to help. "As we came looking for the others, we too were taken in custody and charged for ticket-less travel and crossing the tracks," said Kalantre.u00a0
The marshals alleged that the RPF constables took away their belongings, which included their receipt book, the collected fine money, wallets, and mobile phone. The marshals were later released on bail. Ajay Sansare, Sr PI, Dadar RPF, said, "They (marshals) were collecting fine in the railway premises without permission. They are trying to save themselves."
R A Rajeev, addl municipal commissioner, under whom the clean-up marshal campaign started, said, "I am going to write to senior railway authorities. No one is above the law. There may be a problem of jurisdiction and we will sort it out."
Clean-up campaign
The clean-up campaign was launched on November 15, 2007.
The BMC has earned Rs 3.8 crore by fining 1.10 lakh defaulters and made another 80,000 opt for community services
