Kolkata: The Border Security Force has suspended Veeranna Bhavi, a constable with the 99th Battalion of the armed troops, after he was prima facie found involved in the alleged molestation of a Bangladeshi passenger at gunpoint on board the Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express on Monday.
“We have inquired into the matter and have found that the constable was involved in the incident. We have placed him under suspension. We will now hand him over to the railway police who will conduct the investigations. He would be tried under relevant sections of the law,” said RPS Jaiswal, PRO, South Bengal Frontier of BSF.
Ironically, the jawan was entrusted with the duty of providing security to passengers from Kolkata to Gede, the last station on the Indian side in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
The incident, which caused major embarrassment to Indian officials, was the first of its kind on Maitree Express, which started its service in 2014 and marked the restoration of the inter-border railway link that existed till the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
The victim alleged that the jawan followed her and then groped her at gun point when she was returning to the coupe of her AC first class compartment from the toilet. The incident took place shortly after the train had crossed Dum Dum after leaving Kolkata terminal station at 7.10 am. In the scuffle that followed, the woman fell and injured her knee.
She, along with her family, was returning to Dhaka after visiting Kolkata for a holiday. The victim’s husband first lodged a complaint with the TTE. It was at Gede where the train stopped that the family lodged an official complaint with the station manager. The matter was brought to the notice of the Immigration Department, the General Railway Police force and the BSF.
The GRP later lodged a case under section 354A (sexual harassment) against the accused jawan.
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