Kerala House criticises Railways for youth's death

Thiruvananthapuram, June 21: The Kerala Assembly today came down heavily on Railways for the alleged harassment of passengers by Railway officials, especially Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs), which led to the death of a youth recently.

Raising the issue through a submission, Mr Anthalavattom Anandan (CPI-M) said Santosh (19) of Neyyattinkara was killed when he fell from a running train after being caught for ticketless travel.

He was beaten by the TTEs and he fell from the train during the altercation, Mr Anandan alleged and demanded that the Railways provide adequate compensation to Santosh's family.

Mr K C Venugopal (Congress) alleged that the TTEs were misbehaving even with women passengers and the response of the Railway higher officials to such incidents were not satisfactory.

Both Mr Anandan and Mr Venugopal urged the government to take up the issue with the Railway Ministry.

Replying to the submission, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Vijayakumar, who is also in charge of the Railways, said the reply of the Railways on the death of Santosh was not satisfactory.

Their contention was that Santosh jumped out of the train to escape penalty on being caught for ticketless travel. The Crime Branch Police were now investigating the case after a magistrate court ordered filing of cases against the TTEs.

Mr Vijayakumar said the Railways had agreed to provide a compensation of only Rs 15,000 to the family of Santosh whereas the State Cabinet had sanctioned an assistance of Rs 50,000.

He told the agitated members that the sentiments of the House would be conveyed to the Railway Ministry.

UNI