Mob fury after RPF jawan thrashes' Metro passenger

KOLKATA: A mob clashed with police at Dum Dum Metro station on Monday evening after an RPF constable allegedly beat up a passenger for not paying the correct fare. Police had to lathicharge the protesters.
Gobindo Dey, the passenger, has been admitted to RG Kar hospital with injuries. Sinthee police detained four people for causing trouble at the station.
Around 8 pm, an RPF constable noticed that the automatic ticket checking machine at the exit turnstile had rejected Dey's magnetic ticket. The constable asked Dey to wait and allow other passengers to move out. A Metro official was summoned to check the ticket. He reportedly found that Dey had a Rs 4 ticket, but had travelled the distance of a Rs 6 ticket. Dey denied this and an argument broke out.
"Suddenly, the constable started hitting him with his stick. Other passengers were incensed by this and protested," said Prasanta Maity, who had boarded the train from Sovabazar. Amritangshu Sur, another passenger, said, "I saw the constable beating up the man. When we tried to protest, other RPF men abused us."
RPF and police denied the allegations. "He started feeling ill while waiting. This made other passengers think RPF constables had beaten him up," said DC North P K Ghosh.
Sinthee police also detained an employee of a private news channel, Satrajit Sarkar. "When I tried to inform my office about the trouble, an RPF jawan hit me. Later, a constable dragged me into the police van parked outside," he alleged.