Mumbai, Nov 5: The Western Railway has suspended a train ticket examiner (TTE) for allegedly making a passenger write an apology after the latter asked him to speak in Marathi, an official said on Tuesday.

The action came after a photograph of the apology letter surfaced on social media, and passengers staged a protest, he said.

Talking to PTI, Vineet Abhishek, chief public relations officer of Western Railway, said an inquiry is ordered into the incident that took place at Nallasopara station on November 3, and TTE Rakesh Mourya has been suspended.

"All passengers, regardless of their religion, language, or region, are equal to us. Providing excellent service to them is our goal. The matter will be investigated thoroughly, and necessary action will be taken," he said.

Around 70 to 80 passengers staged a protest at Nallasopara station after the purported apology letter surfaced on social media on Monday, officials said.

According to officials, the TTE asked the passenger, Amit Patil, and his wife to furnish their local train tickets. The couple asked him to speak to them in Marathi as they did not understand Hindi, and an argument ensued.

The TTE took the couple to the office of the Railway Protection Force, where Patil claimed that the official had threatened them and made him write an apology, they said.

The Western Railway, in its statement, affirmed its commitment to respecting all languages and passengers.

"Western Railway respects all languages spoken across the country and values the diversity of our passengers, standing firm on unity in diversity," it stated.

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Pune, Nov 24: The Maharashtra excise department on Sunday cancelled the permit for serving alcohol at actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh's concert in the Kothrud area of Pune later in the evening, an official said.

The department cancelled the permit after people from different quarters, including Kothrud's newly elected BJP MLA Chandrakant Patil, objected to plans to serve liquor at the programme.

State excise commissioner C Rajput said, "The state excise department has cancelled the permission to serve liquor during the programme."

MLA Patil raised an objection against the concert scheduled at Kakade Farm in Kothrud later in the evening.

The BJP leader, in a statement, said, "Such shows are not part of the city's culture. This will create a major disturbance for residents of the area. The event will also cause traffic jams. Hence, I have urged the city police commissioner to cancel the programme."