Another motorman manhandled

Barely 24 hours after a motorman was manhandled at the Borivali station over a change of platform, another faced commuters’ wrath on Tuesday night. However, this time a proper announcement was made before the arrival of the train and the motorman was not at fault. With this incident, the number of manhandling cases has reached 7 this year.

Train no-827 arrived at platform no-7 at Borivali station at 9.40 pm on Tuesday, while its arrival was scheduled at 9.35 pm. Shyam Sunder Gupta, Chief Public Relation officer, Western Railway, said, “On Tuesday night, a proper announcement was made and the train was scheduled to come on platform no-7 only.”

“When the train reached the platform, a few passengers caught hold of motorman GS Tripathi and started pushing him. They took him to the station master and abused him. Only when the train guard entered the office and informed the passengers that the announcement was made and the train was pre-scheduled to arrive on platform no 7, the mob pacified and went back,” said an eyewitness at Borivali station.

But railway officials and staff were shocked after hearing about the incident and said that there was no reason for such a provocation. “This could be politically motivated. A few people take advantage of the situation,” said Priya Sinha, a passenger at Borivali.

“Whatever the truth may be, it is us who face the wrath of the commuters. The WR administration should take some security measures for the motormen,” said a motorman on condition of anonymity.