RPF brings train bullies on right track

Boarding a Dahanu-bound train to get off at Virar proved costly for a commuter on October 17, after he was manhandled by a group of commuters while he was trying to alight the train at his destination. The RPF has now arrested 14 passengers for allegedly bashing up Pawan Tiwari (38), the passenger concerned. But even as the police went to arrest these people on Wednesday night, the same Dahanu-bound train had to be halted at Virar station for more than one and a half hours since the accused, on being arrested, had pulled the chain meant to stop the train and even created a ruckus.

Mr Tiwari had boarded the Dahanu-bound train that leaves Churchgate station at 8.27 pm. In this particular train, Palghar-bound passengers rarely, if ever, allow Virar-bound passengers to get off or even on the rake. This leads to several fights between passengers. In the case of Mr Tiwari, a Virar resident, he wasn’t allowed by the other passengers to alight at Virar, and was forced to travel all the way to Safale since the Palghar-bound passengers made it a point to not make way for him to get off the train. Mr Tiwari was manhandled in the melee that followed, following which he informed RPF officials at Virar of the incident.

The RPF then laid a trap on Wednesday and when the train reached platform number three at Virar, Mr Tiwari identified those people who had manhandled him. After that, when the officers asked the accused to get off the train, other passengers pulled the chain and created pandemonium.

Nikhil Dixit, one of the 14 arrested passengers, claimed, “the police had lathi-charged us first. A fine of Rs 1,500 was imposed on me even though I have done nothing.”

But Dipak Awasthi, a passenger who has faced similar harassment as Mr Tiwari, said, “On October 2, when I had gone on a date with my girlfriend to Arnala, Virar, we were both harassed by male passengers inside the Dahanu fast train. They behaved in a way that boarding the Dahanu fast train is a crime for people who want to get off at Virar.”

Rohan Jaiswal, a real estate broker, added that he, too, had faced the same situation in a Virar fast train when he had tried to get off at Borivali. “I stay in Borivali and when I tried to get down, all the passengers standing there started abusing me saying, 'Why have you boarded our train when there is a slow train to Borivali every now and then ’”