Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule has claimed she was harassed by a cab driver at Central Railway’s Dadar terminus when she arrived here on Thursday.
Lodging a complaint with the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Sule said that the cabbie, Kuljeet Singh Malhotra, barged into her railway compartment and tried to forcibly tout a taxi service to her.
“Despite a refusal twice, he blocked my path, harassed me and shamelessly even posed for a photo,” said an agitated Sule as she narrated the incident in a series of tweets later.
Tagging Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, she added: “Kindly look into the matter so that passengers don’t have to experience such incidents again. If touting is permitted under the law, then it cannot and should not be permitted within train stations or airports but only at designated taxi stands.”
Swinging into action, the RPF quickly tracked down and caught Malhotra and booked him under various sections, besides slapping a fine of Rs 260 for not having a valid ticket, another fine of Rs 400 by the traffic police for not possessing a driving license and driving without uniform.
Central Railway’s Senior Security Commissioner, RPF Mumbai Division K.K. Ashraf said the RPF has taken very serious cognizance of the incident and invoked “all possible sections of the laws” against the accused.
“Besides, we have taken up a drive to counsel and sensitize our RPF jawans on how to handle such incidents and ensure they don’t recur,” Ashraf told IANS.
Sule – daughter of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar – later appreciated the RPF for their prompt action. “Thank you, RPF for your prompt action. Inconvenience should not be caused for any rail passenger.”
In another fallout, a crackdown has been ordered on unauthorised cabbies operating in the vicinity of all the railway termini like Dadar Terminus, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Bandra Terminus, Mumbai Central Terminus, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, where thousands of passengers – including VIPs – throng daily, said another official.