Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Railway inquiry: ticket examiners acted ‘correctly’

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: An internal enquiry by the Railways into the death of an 18-year-old commuter, who jumped off the Jayanthi Janatha Express between Kadakavoor and Chirayinkeezh railway stations on Saturday, has revealed that the Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTE) acted in a ‘correct and genuine way.’

The enquiry into the death of Santhosh, a native of Neyyattinkara, was carried out by Railway Ernakulam Area Manager C.M. Chandrasekharan Nair. The report was submitted to Divisional Railway Manager S. Vijayakumaran.

Santhosh, a painter, was allegedly travelling with an expired season ticket from Neyyattinkara to Kollam and was held by the TTEs during their ticket-checking drive. Santhosh allegedly jumped off the moving train to escape paying penalty. As per the report, the TTEs acted as per the provisions mentioned in the Indian Railway Act to handle unauthorised travellers. No mishandling of the youth, as alleged by the commuters and locals, got a mention in the report. The commuters manhandled the six TTEs alleging that the youth was manhandled by the squad and that Santhosh was pushed out of the train. The squad which came from the Trichinapally railway division had the escort of Railway Protection Force personnel during the ticket checking drive. The railway authorities are awaiting the enquiry report from the police. Already, the case had been transferred from the Railway police to the Crime Branch as per the instruction of the Minister of Home, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. The Travelling Ticket Examiners commenced a 24-hour hunger strike in front of Railway Station Master’s office in Thiruvananthapuram Central station on Thursday. The hunger strike, organised by the Southern Railway Mazdoor Union and attended by over 25 TTE’s, would end at 10 a.m. on Friday.

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