Dinesh Sharma, the official driver of K Ramachandran, SP (Railways), got into a Thane-bound local on Thursday night from Parel station. The police constable on duty in the compartment, J C Tondse, asked Sharma, who was in civilian clothes, to get off at the next station since the train had already started moving.

Stepping onto the platform at Dadar, Sharma flashed his ID as the SP's official driver. Not impressed, Tondse took Sharma to the Dadar railway police station and made a diary entry about the incident though no charges were pressed.

When the driver and the constable were summoned the next day to the SP's office for explanation, Sharma failed to turn up. Tondse, however, was appreciated for his dedication to duty, accordingto sources.

A senior official of the railway police said that they have taken up a massive drive against men who travel in the ladies' compartments. There have been increasing complaints that beggars, urchins and even eunuchs travel in the ladies' compartments, especially at late night hours, the official said adding that patrol has been increased in such compartments.

Sharma's was not an isolated incident. City police personnel are often found travelling in the first class compartments without valid permits. On a Churchgate-bound local on Saturday morning, a ticket checker refused to take action against a person who was travelling without a ticket in a first class compartment because he claimed to be a policeman.

During his round inside the compartment the TC moved on when a person claimed he was a police officer. However, a commuter standing nearby insisted that the officer show his ticket/pass. When the officer failed to produce any papers, this was brought to the notice of the TC who refused toact. Meanwhile, the policeman claimed that he was from the Crime Branch and there was an `understanding' between the police and the railways that the former could travel free anywhere in city without paying for it.

When contacted, Western Railway spokesman, Vinod Asthana, clarified that the city police has no authority to travel free on the local trains and has to buy a valid ticket or a pass. He added that this issue came up in a high level meeting a few months ago. ``Such travel has reduced considerably after instructions were issued on this matter,'' he claimed.

When asked why the TC refused to take action in the above case, Asthana said that the TC must have assumed that the police officer had a travelling authority, or he must not have thought it was an opportune moment to take action.