Bhubaneswar: Passengers in the Odisha bound Nandankanan Express from Delhi complained of being hassled and heckled by the young men who boarded the train without tickets.
According to the passengers, large number of men allegedly boarded the train from Kanpur, Allahabad and other places in Bihar into the reserved coaches. Sources say that almost a thousand young men have travelled to Bhubaneswar in the hopes of getting a job in the 120 infantry battalion that is currently recruiting people.
Biswanath Sahoo, a businessman from Bhubaneswar who was travelling with his wife and daughter said that the long journey was a harrowing one for them. “We couldn’t avail the benefits of reserved passengers at all. The young men forcibly jostled into the coaches and filled the upper berths with their luggage. They sat and slept on the floor. This restricted our free movement in the coaches. The ladies couldn’t go to the toilets s the passages were blocked. They said that this is how they travel and that we cannot do anything about this. It was absolute mayhem,” said Sahoo.
Sahoo said he saw the ticket collector just once in the beginning of the journey and never again. He also called up Mirzapur Government Railway Police (GRP) on the way but claims the police didn’t take any action.
Another passenger, Madhumita Sahoo, said that the men created a lot of nuisance in the coaches. “They misbehaved with women and threatened the passengers in crude language. It was also trouble as they were sitting close to the passengers’ legs on the floor. When the train doors were closed the men threw stones and banged the doors to let them in,” said Sahoo.
At Bhubaneswar station, the GRP detained 16 men and levied a fine of Rs 415 on 4 of them. Biswanath Sahoo plans to lodge an FIR as well.
“There is no mechanism in place to stop the passengers without tickets to board the trains in large numbers. The Army authorities from Bhubaneswar could have informed the Railways of expected massive inflow of passengers from UP, Bihar or other states. The Railways could have arranged for extra coaches for the passengers. It creates a lot of difficulty for a ticket holding passenger when such large number of people just forcefully takes over reserved coaches,” added Sahoo.