LUCKNOW: A woman railway ticket-checking official has been suspended for allegedly misbehaving with a 22-year-old passenger travelling from Andhra Pradesh with his two younger brothers, including a minor, after he was unable to immediately locate his train ticket in his luggage at Jhansi railway station on Nov 8.The passenger later found the ticket in his bag and returned to show it, but alleged that the official questioned its authenticity.The incident occurred around 5.10am on Sunday, when Shravan Kumar (22), a resident of Chhoti Jhandi village in Lakhimpur Kheri, was waiting at Jhansi station with his brothers, Alok (17) and Neeraj (19), to board an intercity train to Lucknow.The three had boarded train number 12627, Karnataka Express, at Penukonda Junction in Andhra Pradesh on Nov 6. Their reservation details show that all three passengers had Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) accommodation in sleeper coach S2, with berths 39 and 47 allotted to them.Shravan, who works in car loading in Andhra Pradesh, was returning home on leave, while his younger brothers study there.According to Shravan, the three had arrived at Jhansi aboard Karnataka Express and were waiting for their connecting train, scheduled to depart around 6am, when a woman ticket checker approached them and demanded their tickets.“I had booked counter tickets nearly two months ago but could not immediately locate them in my luggage. I offered to provide the PNR, coach and berth numbers so that the details could be verified, but she refused,” Shravan told TOI.He alleged that the official subsequently took them to a senior woman ticket-checking official, who spoke to them rudely despite his repeated requests to verify their journey details.Shravan said he also offered to show his confirmed online tickets for the onward journey to Lucknow, but the official insisted on seeing the Karnataka Express tickets.In a video recorded by one of his brothers, the senior woman TTE can be heard saying, “Get out of here. Leave immediately. Don’t let me see you inside the station again. If I see you here again, you will face consequences.”Shravan alleged that the official also made insulting remarks about the three brothers.“After being forced to leave, I found the missing tickets in the side pocket of my bag. We immediately returned to show them, but the official questioned their authenticity. I even offered to produce our Aadhaar cards,” he said.Following the video’s circulation on social media and Shravan’s complaint, railway authorities initiated action.North Central Railway’s Jhansi division PRO Manoj Singh confirmed that the ticket-checking official had been suspended with immediate effect.“We have taken the incident seriously. The concerned ticket-checking staff member has been suspended and further action will follow as per rules,” Singh said.He added that railway staff were being counselled to ensure passengers were treated respectfully and with dignity.“Passengers are our first priority. Staff must use dignified language and behave appropriately while performing their duties,” Singh said.
