When their repeated pleas about bootlegging in trains to the railway police and RPF fell on deaf ears, irate passengers of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad passenger (also known as Viramgam passenger) train decided to take matters on their own hands.
When their repeated pleas about bootlegging in trains to the railway police and RPF fell on deaf ears, irate passengers of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad passenger (also known as Viramgam passenger) train decided to take matters on their own hands on Saturday.
Irked by the daily happening, passengers targeted the bootleggers after the train was stopped a few hundred metres outside the Surat railway station, allegedly to unload liquor boxes. They damaged the liquor bottles and also prevented the train from continuing its onward journey. Later, a group of bootleggers also pelted stones on the train.
According to information, trouble brewed when the train left Surat railway station a few minutes before 7 am but was stopped near Sumul Dairy by the alleged bootleggers to unload liquor boxes from the train. This irritated the passengers who were already incensed by the daily act. They then targeted the liquor carriers and made them flee from the scene, leaving the liquor boxes behind on which the passengers vent all ire smashing them to smithereens.
The train remained standing at the spot for almost an hour as the passengers demanded an end to liquor bootlegging in trains. They also pointed out to police and railway officials about the daily menace. However, after the police and RPF personnel had to use light force that the passengers allowed the train to move ahead. However, the train had just travelled a few hundred metres when a group of bootleggers from Utkal nagar slums targeted it and pelted stones on it.
The bootleggers allegedly wanted to stop the train so that they could unload the liquor boxes aboard the train. However, they were unsuccessful, and had to flee the spot when police arrived. Surat railway police in-charge Bhargav Pandya, however, denied that stones were pelted on the train. Passengers also resorted to slogan shouting at Kosad railway station.
Later, railway police registered a case under Prohibition Act. “We have seized liquor worth Rs1.38 lakh and registered a case against the unidentified bootleggers under Prohibition Act. We have also registered a case against the mob involved in delaying the train at Kosad railway station,” Pandya said, who was quick to deny that railway police and RPF personnel were hands in gloves with the bootleggers. “We were taking action whenever we receive information,” he said, adding, “We are facing manpower shortage because many railway policemen are in Ahmedabad for Rathyatra security. However, we will conduct checks to curb the problem,” he added.
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