Woman 'thrown out' of train in Bengal, railways rubbish claim

Kolkata, June 28 (IANS) Angry passengers ransacked a railway station and roughed up two officials Saturday claiming a woman passenger was thrown off a moving train in West Bengal's Howrah district.

However, the South Eastern Railways (SER) claimed the passenger was not thrown off but jumped out of the train after being caught travelling without a ticket. The SER has ordered a probe into the matter.

The incident happened in Bagnan when the train was entering the station. Subsequently, angry passengers ransacked the station and assaulted two officials, including a female TTE, alleging a woman passenger was thrown out from the moving train.

"The passenger was not thrown off, rather she jumped out after being caught travelling without a ticket by a woman ticket checker. It's unfortunate the woman received serious head injuries but that doesn't call for ransacking the station or assaulting the officials," SER spokesperson Soumitra Majumdar said.

He said a probe will be conducted to ascertain the truth behind the incident.

"While prime facie it has been established it is not a case of a passenger being thrown out of a moving train, a probe will be conducted to ascertain if there is any truth in the allegations," he added.

Friday, a similar incident happened in Eklakhi railway station in Malda district where too a woman was injured after she was allegedly pushed off the train. However, railway officials maintained she jumped out after being caught travelling ticketless.