Pabna, Oct 31 (V7N) — Two railway employees from the Pakshi Divisional Office of Western Railway have been suspended for allegedly collecting extra money from ticketless passengers on the Dhalarchar Express. The suspended employees, Train Director (Guard) Zakaria Sohag and Ticket Observer (TTE) Nayan Islam, are accused of failing to issue tickets despite receiving payments, leading to an investigation by railway authorities.

Pakshi Divisional Transport Officer (DTO) Anwar Hossain confirmed the suspensions on Thursday afternoon. The incident reportedly took place on Wednesday, October 30, when Dhalarchar Express departed from Rahanpur Station in Chapainawabganj for Dhalarchar, Pabna. TTE Nayan Islam and Train Director Zakaria Sohag allegedly demanded extra payments from ticketless passengers but did not provide valid tickets in return.

Students on the train from Rajshahi Station reported the misconduct to the railway authorities after an exchange with the accused employees. Initially, both officials denied any wrongdoing, but they later admitted to collecting the extra fare without issuing tickets and apologized. Following this, Pakshi Railway Divisional Authority issued a suspension notification.

This is not the first incident involving Train Director Zakaria Sohag, who faced similar accusations on September 8 and was previously dismissed.

In response to the allegations, TTE Nayan Islam defended his actions, explaining, “Passengers without tickets were given standing tickets with fares shared among multiple individuals. The ticket often remains with one person, and students who noticed this interrogated us while recording it.” He claimed he was pressured into admitting overcharging.

Pakshi Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Shah Sufi Noor Muhammad, speaking from Dhaka, confirmed that further departmental actions would be taken against the accused employees.

END/SR/AJ