Railway staff supplies 'loo water' to passenger onboard, jailed

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A 30-year-old AC coach attendant, who supplied impure water to passengers on the Tirunelveli-Jamnagar Express recently, was sentenced to 10 days simple imprisonment and fined Rs1,500.

The attendant, who hails from Rajkot, allegedly supplied water from the wash basin of a lavatory of the coach, a report in Times of India read. The RPF has now launched an operation to crack down on illegal water supply in trains.

Girish Karandikar, Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) spokesperson was quoted in the report saying the KRCL central traffic control room had alerted the RPF-Ratnagiri about unauthorised sale of packaged water on the Tirunelveli-Jamnagar Express (19577). He said the three-tier (B3) AC coach was checked at Ratnagiri station and a verbal complaint was registered which said that impure packaged water was supplied to a passenger.

The accused was later nabbed at Ratnagiri. The report added, "The accused is a contract worker. He has been booked for illegal sale of an article under section 144 (1) of the Indian Railway Act."

KRCL regional railway manager Upendra Shende said the accused Ravindra Vyas is a Rajkot resident. At Madgaon, he boarded a train and supplied impure water in an unsealed packaged bottle to a passenger who found it suspicious. "The accused is suspected to have supplied water from the wash basin of a lavatory in the coach," he was quoted as saying in the report.

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