TTE booked over death of Navy officer's wife after fall from train in UP
New Delhi (PTI): A ticket examiner was booked for allegedly pushing the wife of a Navy officer to her death from a Patna–Anand Vihar special train near Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Friday.
The woman’s family has alleged that the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) pushed her out of the moving train, they said, adding that an FIR has been registered at the Government Railway Police (GRP) office in Etawah on Thursday.
The officials added that at least five co-passengers, in written statements to the Railways, have defended the TTE and said that the woman jumped on her own after he asked her to shift to the general compartment as she was carrying a ticket for another train.
The victim, Arti Yadav, boarded the sleeper coach of a Patna-Anand Vihar special train at around 7:30 am from Kanpur on Tuesday. At around 9:30 am, the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) Santosh Kumar entered the coach and asked her to show her ticket, they said.
"The lady said she had a ticket for another train. The TTE told her to go to the general coach. Then the lady said she would get down at the next station," Anchal Srivastava, a passenger occupying berth number 4—where Arti Yadav had sat after entering the sleeper coach—said in a written statement to the Railways.
Srivastava added, "When the TTE again asked her to shift to the general coach, she said she would jump out of the train. After saying this, she took her bag and jumped out of the train near Bharthna station."
Another passenger, Raj Vaibhav Singh, reiterated Srivastava’s version and added that she threw her Aadhaar card towards the TTE before taking her bag and jumping out of the train, as the coach door was close to the berth she was sitting in.
"I was on berth no 20, but when I heard the TTE and the woman talking to each other, I went to the berth to find out what went wrong," Raj told PTI.
Three other passengers occupying adjoining berths and present during the incident have given similar written statements.
However, Yadav’s husband, Ajay Singh, who serves in the Indian Navy, alleged that she was pushed out of the speeding train by the TTE following an argument.
"The TTE pushed her out of the moving train. Her bag was recovered 4 km away from the body. Her mobile phone is missing. Her back was severely injured, while the front side had no injury marks. This shows foul play," Singh told PTI from her village in Kanpur Dehat.
When informed that co-passengers said she jumped on her own, Singh questioned their version and said, "I came to know that one of the co-passengers, Raj Vaibhav Singh, had called 139 and complained about the TTE’s misbehaviour with my wife. But now, very strangely, he has changed his statement."
Singh further argued, "Kanpur (where she boarded) and Bharthna (where her body was found) are about 130 km apart. If she intended to commit suicide, why would she wait so long? She could have done it soon after the train started speeding."
He also said his wife had recently travelled alone from Mumbai to Kanpur without any issues and denied that she had any mental distress.
"I request the GRP to thoroughly investigate the matter," he said.
In his statement, TTE Kumar said the victim initially claimed she had an AC class ticket for another train (No. 02563) and tried to show it on her phone, but he could only see the train number.
He said he merely asked her to shift to the general coach, after which she threw her Aadhaar card at him, picked up her bag, and jumped out of the train.
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Jarkiholi is my colleague, don’t see us as enemies: DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has stated that Satish Jarkiholi and he are colleagues and not enemies.
Speaking to presspersons here, Shivakumar questioned the media for portraying tension between the two leaders. “It is true that Satish Jarkiholi and I met at a wedding last night. We discussed the state and the party. Satish Jarkiholi and I are colleagues. Why do you see us as enemies?” he asked.
Shivakumar was responding to queries near the new Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) office on Thursday.
When asked about Jarkiholi’s visit, he said, “We attend cabinet meetings in the afternoon, we meet for dinner, we meet for breakfast in the morning; these interactions are normal. In politics, friendship, relationships, and closeness always exist.”
He added, “Now, M.B. Patil and I spoke for about an hour about how to attract investors to the state, how Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are competing with us. A global conference will be held in Telangana soon, and we discussed how Karnataka should compete at the global level. It is natural to discuss the state’s progress this way.”
Speaking about the inauguration of the new KKRDB office, he said, “Businessmen in Karnataka should be respected. Their work should be facilitated, officers’ visits should be convenient, and files should be cleared quickly. The state government has built a new KKRDB office under the leadership of M.B. Patil. They had been in a rented building for so long; now they have their own office. It is close to Vidhana Soudha, bus and railway stations.”
When mediapersons asked about, leader of opposition, R. Ashoka’s comments regarding the Upalokayukta report that allegedly shows 63% corruption in the state, Shivakumar retorted, stating that, “It’s a pity that R. Ashoka doesn’t know the time period the report covers. Let him first read the report. Let him raise the issue in the session, and we will answer there.”
On whether a date has been fixed for the all-party delegation’s visit to Delhi, he said, “We still need to discuss it. The Union Minister said he is busy with the Parliament session, so we postponed the meeting scheduled for December 8. He had written a letter about this. The Prime Minister has a meeting with Prahlad Joshi. Nirmala Sitharaman has to introduce a bill that day. Somanna also said he will not be able to attend. A date will be fixed that is convenient for all of us.”
