Over 400 police personnel fined by railway for travelling without tickets between Ghaziabad, Kanpur
New Delhi, Oct 18: The Prayagraj railway division has fined more than 400 police personnel for travelling without tickets on several mail and express trains in the last month and a half at various places between Ghaziabad and Kanpur, officials said.
The traffic officers conducting these special drives found most of the police personnel travelling without tickets in air-conditioned coaches and pantry cars, causing inconvenience to passengers.
Shashi Kant Tripathi, Chief Public Relations Officer, North Central Railway, said the Indian Railways regularly conducts drives to check unauthorised travellers.
"Without-ticket travellers not only cause inconvenience to passengers but also financial loss to the railway. Hence, we have adopted strict measures to check unauthorised travelling of every individual and we have been quite successful in our efforts," Tripathi said.
Santosh Kumar, zonal secretary of the Indian Railway Ticket Checking Staff Organisation, NCR zone, said many police personnel misuse their official position, enter air-conditioned coaches and lie down on empty berths,
"They do not vacate the berths for authorised passengers and even threaten them as well as railway officials," Kumar said.
He said the special drive has received a positive feedback from passengers who have appreciated the initiative and cooperated with railway officials. The drive has been led by Amit Sudarshan, Deputy Chief Traffic Manager, and assisted by Assistant Traffic Manager Dinesh Kapil and other officers.
One of the railway officials said many of these police personnel threatened the traffic officers and ticket examiners of dire consequences if they are fined.
"Though the higher-ups in the Uttar Pradesh police department have issued cautionary letters and circulars asking police personnel not to travel on trains without tickets, it seems that these letters have had little impact on them," another railway official said.
"These police personnel think that no one will report to the higher-ups about their misconduct and so they can carry on with their activities," he added.
According to Kumar, initially these police personnel tried to intimidate commercial officers but when the latter started recording their activities on the phone and became adamant to issue challans as well as report their wrongdoings to their departments, they started pleading for mercy.
"Many of them fled from one coach to another to skip the fine," Kumar said.
According to the railway officials, the drive will be carried on throughout the festive season so that authorised passengers do not suffer.
"Even after the festivals, we will conduct surprise checks occasionally to curb such activities," a railway official said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
