Forced to reveal piles surgery wound for leaves, loco pilot seeks ST Commission probe, FIR

New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) A loco pilot has written to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, seeking a probe and alleging that he was forced to undress before a senior officer in the Lucknow Rail Division to show unhealed wounds from a piles surgery in order to get his leave extended.

He has also accused the officer of using a casteist slur during their interaction and demanded that an FIR be registered under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The loco pilot has also forwarded his complaint to the president, prime minister, the chief justice of India and several other constitutional authorities.

Officials from the railway division concerned said the administration is already probing the matter.

In his complaint, loco pilot Rajesh Meena, who belongs to a tribal community, alleged that he was suffering from piles and that when he requested leave for operation, his supervisor, Chief Crew Controller (CCC) Ratan Kumar, refused to grant it.

The complaint says that after a lot of persuasion, he was granted a leave for a week from February 22 during which he underwent a surgery.

However, when his wounds didn't heal during the week, Meena said he visited a railway health unit and got himself examined. He said the doctor advised him to rest and asked him to bring a 'sick memo' from his department to sanction leave for further rest.

Meena claimed that when he approached the CCC and pleaded with folded hands for the memo, the officer, didn't trust him and questioned how he could believe that the doctor had asked for the sick memo or that Meena actually was operated on for piles.

"After that, I kept medicines, ointment and treatment-related documents on his table. He saw those things and still refused," Meena claimed, adding that he then had to take off his pants and show him the unhealed wound so that the CCC would trust him.

A purported video of the incident, recorded by the loco pilot's colleagues, was widely circulated on various WhatsApp groups of the railway employees, who expressed outrage over what they described as inhuman treatment.

Meena further claimed that despite the humiliating act, the CCC didn't show any mercy and said the senior divisional electrical engineer had directed that a sick memo not be given to anyone.

"Using a casteist slur, he asked me to get out and said or else, he would throw me out," Meena alleged in the complaint.

He further submitted that later, he spoke to a community leader who escalated his case to senior railway officials, following which his sick memo was issued.

Referring to various legal provisions, Meena has demanded an independent and time-bound probe into the incident, registration of an FIR under the SC/ST Act against the officials concerned, departmental disciplinary proceedings, adequate compensation for mental agony and guidelines to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.

After the incident, the office of the Divisional Railway Manager of the Lucknow Division replied to a post about the incident on X and said, "The incident dated 02.03.26 has been taken serious note of. The sick memo was issued as per due procedure after consultation with the competent authority. Indiscipline and inappropriate conduct in office premises are being examined, and suitable action will be taken as per rules." "The employee concerned was already granted sick leave from 02.03.26 till 08.03.26," the post added. PTI JP PRK