Youth claims harassment at Bhayandar station; railway officials reject charges

Thane, Jan 1 (PTI) A youth on Thursday claimed that he was harassed and detained at Bhayandar station, on the outskirts of Mumbai, for three hours after he sought to know why announcements were being made only in English and Hindi, and not Marathi.

Railway officials rejected the claim, saying announcements on the Western Railway are made in all three languages.

According to the youth, who identified himself as Jigar Patil, he asked the station master for a complaint register to air his grievance that “Marathi was not being used”. He claimed that the station master responded angrily.

The station master allegedly threatened to call the Railway Protection Force if Patil continued to argue. The youth claimed that he was taken to the station master’s room and made to wait there for nearly three hours.

As per railway officials, Patil misbehaved with the station master. He also did not have a valid ticket, due to which he was made to sit at the station.

Western Railway Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek told PTI that announcements on their network are always made in Marathi, English and Hindi. PTI COR NR