CTI/Surat suspended on corruption charges
The Western Railway administration has suspended the Chief Ticket Inspector (CTI), Surat station on the alleged charges of corruption in assigning duties to the sleeper coaches to the travelling ticket examiners (TTEs) in the long and short distance Mail/Express trains from the Surat railway station.
The action was taken after the audio conservation between CTI/SL, Surat railway station, Shailendra Verma and TTE, D. B. Sawant went viral on the social media few days ago.
In the audio conversation, the CTI is heard demanding Rs 25,000 for duties in leave reserve (LR) demand made by the TTE.
Sources said both the TTE and the CTI were summoned to Mumbai for their statements regarding the leaked audio conservation and the corruption charges on Saturday, 31st July. The senior railway officials investigating the matter found prima facie evidence against the CTI and that he was suspended on the spot with immediate effect.
DRM/Mumbai Central Division, Western Railway GVL Satya Kumar said, “The employee in question has been suspended for his alleged corruption charges. We have constituted an enquiry against him and a thorough investigation has been ordered.”
“In the past, we have found many cases of corruption from the Surat station,” he said.
Sources said the corrupt practice of allotting favorite duties to the TTEs by the CTI was going from a very long time. There are over 100 TTEs posted on the Surat railway station, who are assigned duties on various trains.
The railway administration has fixed the protocols for assigning duties to the TTEs in the trains. The senior TTEs are assigned duty in the AC coaches, junior TTEs are given the sleeper coaches and the freshers are given the task of checking ticekts in the general coaches. Apart from this, CTI is responsible to create a team under the LR category.
Sources said that Shailandra Varma, CTI/SL, Surat railway station was earlier posted at the Valsad railway station where he was grilled by the WR Vigilance for his alleged involvement in the fake travel allowance scam to the tune of Rs 3.5 lakh.
Vigilance team had raided Shailendra Varma after he was caught for fraudulently claiming the travel allowance between 2018 & 2020. VarmaтАЩs corrupt practices was exposed after the vigilance team recovered concocted documents related to travel allowance claim forms from his possession.
Sources said that “the CTI was earning hefty money by indulging in corrupt practices from the last so many years. The railway activists have demanded departmental inquiry against Verma for his alleged involvement in corruption.”
Source: Media Reports
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