A woman travelling without a ticket on a train from Danapur to Prayagraj allegedly tore her own clothes during a dispute with a ticket-checking staffer in an attempt to accuse him of misbehaviour. However, a fellow passenger had recorded the incident, providing footage of the events.
A video of the incident, which occurred on September 17 aboard the Danapur-Secunderabad Express, has since gone viral on social media. The woman, who was travelling with a young girl, can be heard arguing with the ticket-checking staff and threatening to implicate them.
The incident occurred while the train was travelling between Danapur and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction in Uttar Pradesh.
Railway officials said ticket-checking staff were inspecting passengers in the second AC coach after the train departed from Danapur. When they asked the woman to produce her ticket, she was unable to do so. She was asked to leave the coach but later shifted to a third AC coach.
The checking staff subsequently found her in the third AC coach, where she was seated with the child. Officials said she continued arguing and declined to purchase a ticket despite being asked several times.
A passenger sitting opposite the woman recorded the exchange. In the video, she can be heard telling the TTE that she was ready to pay, while the staffer explains that she needed to have a valid ticket.
At one point, the woman says she is calling her brother and claims that he is also a TTE. She then appears to look for a railway police helpline number on her phone and tells people nearby that she would "trap" the TTE.
The footage then shows her tearing her own clothes. She is heard making threats and using abusive language towards the ticket-checking staff. The TTEs can meanwhile be heard discussing informing railway control about the situation.
When the train arrived at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction at around 4 pm, RPF personnel who had been alerted by railway control were waiting at the station. The woman was removed from the train and questioned by the RPF team.
The passenger who had filmed the incident subsequently showed the recording to railway officials. The footage captured the events that occurred before the woman tore her clothes.
Railway officials identified the woman as Radhika Tiwari and said she was travelling from Danapur to Prayagraj. She was eventually issued a ticket and fined before being allowed to leave.
S K Verma, one of the ticket-checking staff members, said the staff did not know that another passenger was recording the incident. He said the video helped clarify what had taken place inside the coach.
Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya rail division PRO Vishwanath said the woman was initially found travelling without a ticket in the second AC coach and subsequently moved to the third AC coach after being asked to obtain one. He said the checking staff repeatedly requested her to purchase a ticket, but she refused, following which the divisional control room was informed.
Vishwanath said an RPF women's team attended the train when it reached Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction and removed the woman after she was found without a ticket. He added that she later paid the applicable fine and purchased a ticket. He denied allegations of misbehaviour by the ticket-checking staff and said the action taken was in accordance with railway rules.
