Navi Mumbai: Two allegedly drunk railway passengers were arrested on Monday by the Panvel Government Railway Police (GRP) for assaulting the train ticket examiner (TTE) on the Dadar-Madgaon Jan Shatabdi Express.
P.G. Sawant (45), a resident of Sindhudurg, was on duty on the train on Monday. Around 6.30 a.m., when the train was approaching Panvel railway station, Mr. Sawant asked the accused, Anu Kotiyan (30) and Umesh Ambre (28), to show their tickets. “They had tickets to the general compartment, but were travelling in an air-conditioned (AC) coach. When the TTE told them they could not travel in the AC coach, they started arguing with him, leading to physical assault. As per the complaint we have received, they were consuming alcohol on the train. We have conducted their medical tests and the results are awaited,” Assistant Police Inspector Pooja Bakshi from the Panvel GRP said.
After the attack, the accused were handed over to the Panvel GRP, and Mr. Sawant continued with his duty on the train. However, on reaching Chiplun at around 9.30 a.m., Mr. Sawant felt uneasiness and pain. He was admitted to the government hospital there, and found that he had fractured his hand.
By evening, the officer in charge of the Panvel Railway Station registered a formal complaint with the Panvel GRP and the accused were arrested.
The accused had boarded the train in Thane and were on their way to Madgaon. While Kotiyan works in a private firm in Kalwa, Ambre runs a catering service. They have been arrested under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 85 (1)(2) of The Bombay Prohibition Act, and were produced in the Kalyan court.