27 June,2015 09:36 AM IST | | Soni Pal
Condemning the assault on a female Ticket Checker (TC) and a railway employee, who intervened to save her, at GTB Nagar station on Thursday, 175 TCs protested outside the administrative building at CST in a day-long strike yesterday.
Condemning the assault on a female Ticket Checker (TC) and a railway employee, who intervened to save her, at GTB Nagar station on Thursday, 175 TCs protested outside the administrative building at CST in a day-long strike yesterday.
Speaking to this correspondent, one of the protestors said TC Anita Pawar was manhandled by the family members of a ticketless traveller she had caught around 6.30 pm. The assault on the TC occurred after the ticketless passenger, Anchal, called home and asked her family to come and pay the fine.
After paying the fine, one of Anchal's relatives started abusing Pawar. The argument turned ugly and her family members started slapping Pawar. One of them even lifted a chair to hit her.
Realising that the situation could get worse, on-duty signal operator Dilip Kumar Sharma (25) decided to intervene and defuse the situation. However, the angry mob attacked him with a rod. Someone from the mob hit Sharma on his lower back.
It was the GRP officials who came to the duo's rescue. After making a few arrests, they rushed Pawar and Sharma to Sion Hospital. Cases have been lodged against those arrested.
Criticising the violent behaviour exhibited by the Central line commuters, one of the protesting TCs said, "Most commuters on the Harbour line are rude and foul-mouthed. This isn't a one-of-a-kind incidence. In the past, a similar incident had occurred at Kalyan. Offenders abuse us after paying fines. We have got so used to this crass behaviour that we don't react anymore. Though the authorities have assured us that they will provide protection to the ticket checking staff, no one knows when the assurances will become reality."
