In a shocking incident, a youth was killed after being pushed from the Ispat Express allegedly by a Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) near Badamal railway station in Balangir district on Saturday. The boy was travelling without a ticket.
The body of the deceased was found nearly two km away from the Badamal railway station by the Government Railway Police (GRP).
According to sources, the TTE asked the youth to show his ticket before the train reached Badamal station. But when the youth failed to show his ticket, altercations ensued between them and the enraged TTE pushed the youth out of the moving train. The Balangir GRP has filed a complaint in this regard and started investigation. After postmortem, the body has been kept in the morgue of the District Headquarters Hospital here as his identification was yet to be established.
The incident came to light after some passengers, including eyewitnesses, informed the Balangir GRP.
Dayanidhi Rana, an eyewitness, told reporters that he along with three other passengers was sitting at the door of the compartment when a TTE asked a youth to show his ticket. As he said he has no ticket, the TTE caught hold of his shirt and took him to the door where an altercation erupted among them.
“Then we saw the youth falling down from the train. As we shouted, the TTE, standing at the door, said the youth fell down as he was drunk,” Rana said, expressing astonishment as to how a youth can drink in the evening hours at around 5.30 pm.
Meanwhile, GRP ASI Damodar Sibaram said he would inform higher authorities about the alleged incident. “I have collected the list of TTEs engaged in the train during the day. If there are allegations, we will register the case and begin investigation into the incident,” said Sibaram.