A man and his wife were assaulted allegedly by around 20 pantry car staff on board Hazrat Nizamuddin-Bandra Garib Rath Express over serving of bottled water other than the official 'Rail Neer' brand, prompting the railways to order a probe.
A fine of Rs five lakh has also been imposed on the catering firm, a statement issued by Western Railway said.
According to a Railway Protection Force (RPF) official, Pradip Gupta (48) and his wife were travelling by the 12910 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Bandra Garib Rath Express. At 10.10 PM last Sunday, after the train left Kota Junction, Gupta asked for a bottle of water.
He was allegedly given a bottle of water of a brand other than Rail Neer. Gupta told the catering firm staff that they were supposed to sell only 'Rail Neer', the RPF official said.
Taking offence, the pantry car man called his colleagues and they allegedly thrashed Gupta. His wife also suffered injuries when she tried intervene.
"It was really horrible being beaten up by people who were supposed to serve us. No passenger came to our rescue," Gupta told PTI.
After the incident, the accused pulled the alarm chain and got down between Kota and Ratlam stations, he said.
Gupta had filed the complaint after reaching Borivali at 7.25 AM the next day.
The railway statement yesterday said that G C Agrawal, General Manager, Western Railway, has taken a very serious note of the incident and ordered a inquiry against the catering firm Sunshine Caterers.
(Reopens DES8)
Taking strong exception to the incident, railways today issued show cause notice to the catering company concerned asking why its contract should not be cancelled.
The services of the Catering Manager and the waiter involved in the incident were also suspended, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
Safety and security of passengers are utmost important for railways and this kind of behaviour by the catering staff is not accepted, said the official.
