Bhuj Express held up at Palghar for one hour

Mumbai: The railway police force (RPF) had to rush on the railway tracks at Palghar following a fight between commuters of the Bandra-bound Bhuj Express on Monday afternoon. The police said that the incident unfolded following a spat over the issue of seasons ticket holders entering reserved ticket passengers compartment.

The RPF officials said that the commuters got on the tracks and held up train traffic for almost an hour.

The RPF has registered a case and are in the process of identifying the accused persons who instigated and led the mob with the help of a video of the incident.

“We have captured video of the incident while we were quelling the agitation near Palghar station. The passengers were angered by daily intrusion of local suburban travellers entering reserved compartment to come to Mumbai from the outskirts,” said Anup Shukla, senior divisional security commissioner, RPF (Western Railway)

The passengers of S3, S1, S6 coaches spilled onto the railway tracks soon after and held the train traffic on both up and down lines for almost an hour. The RPF, government railway police (GRP) and city police rushed to the spot fearing ruckus.

The police clamed down the agitators and counselled them to avoid outburst of anger and rioting. Since it was not wise to take anybody into custody at that point in time, the police shot videos that will be scanned during the course of investigation.

The city police and RPF are in the process of registering cases against unknown persons to initiate investigation.

The railway traffic was restored at around 1 pm. Officials said that all the held over trains were outstation trains.

The preliminary probe revealed that it was a routine affair for the season ticket holders to travel in reserved coaches.

The city police plans to register a case as per provisions of the Indian Penal Code, while the RPF will register case under the Railway Act sections.