TTE suspended for assaulting RU student, rail services resume

Junior Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) Suman Ali of Western Zone Railway has been temporarily suspended following allegations that he assaulted a student of Rajshahi University (RU) on a moving train.

He was suspended by Divisional Assistant Commercial Officer-2 Partha Pratim Acharya through an office order on Tuesday.

The letter states that a video has been uploaded on social media alleging that Suman Ali physically assaulted a passenger while on duty on the intercity Padma Express train from Dhaka to Rajshahi on Tuesday.

His actions led to an untoward incident at Rajshahi station. Therefore, he has been temporarily suspended from Tuesday pending investigation.

During the suspension period, he will receive subsistence allowance as per rules. Suman Ali has also been instructed to be present at the Pakshi DCO office from 9am to 4pm during the period.

The victim, Furkan Uddin, is a student of the 2019-20 academic year of the Department of Law at Rajshahi University.

He alleges that on his way back to Rajshahi from Dhaka on the Padma Express, he saw a TTE taking money from passengers without issuing a government receipt.

When he protested, the TTE and another person accompanying him grabbed him by the collar of his T-shirt, took him between two compartments, and beat him severely.

Later, when other passengers came forward, the accused quickly moved away.

In protest of the incident, students blocked the railway tracks adjacent to the university on Tuesday morning halting the train services between Rajshahi and the rest of the country.

Train services resumed later in the afternoon, after students lifted the blockade on assurances from the authorities.