Railway officials don't know what to do, they have declared it as a ``law and order problem''. And on March 3, the Railway Board sent a letter to the Bihar Chief Secretary apprising him of two reported incidents in which passengers and even Railway staff were allegedly harassed by Yadav and his ``henchmen''.

The first involves British national R J Rees who boarded the New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express on January 9. In his complaint, Rees has written that when he got to his AC Class I compartment at the New Delhi station, ``it was fully occupied''. The train superintendent's report states: ``Pappu Yadav, ex-MP, hisgunman and his personnel boarded the Guwahati Rajdhani from New Delhi... Yadav and his personnel entered F cabin forcibly. They were 10 in number. His gunman entered and asked the reserved passengers to vacate the cabin... On my humble request, Mr Yadav allowed Mr R J Rees to occupy the upper berth in F cabin.''

Recounting the incident in a complaint letter, Rees states: ``A heated argument developed during which I was threatened by a gunman. When things settled down, I was allowed into the compartment, but I insisted that the gunman left... When the dinner was served I was ordered to stay on the top berth.'' It was only the next day that Rees was able to climb down, and that too, only when Yadav and his men got off the train at Patna.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Yadav claimed the complaints were baseless. ``I usually fly and don't travel by train so much. In any case, I have an ex-MP's pass and there is no need for me to travel without a ticket. My security guards also buy their tickets,the government pays for it.''

The issue has however been taken up on behalf of Rees by the British High Commission. In its letter to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Commission has deplored the ``breach in the normal high standards of hospitality and courtesy shown to visitors to India and would be grateful if appropriate action is taken.'' says John Greengrass, first secretary at the High Commission: ``We did receive a letter from the Railways that they were looking into the matter. However, there has been no substantive reply after that.''

``We have apologised to the High Commission,'' says Aslam Mehmood, chief commercial manager, Northern Railways. ``We have also taken up the matter with our ministry and have written to the chief-secretary of Bihar.''

In his complaint letter, a copy of which he has forwarded to the prime minister and British foreign secretary, Rees has demanded a written apology.

This is not the first time a compartment has been hijacked by Yadav and his men. In an internalreport, railway officials have informed the Railway Board that these incidents have become very frequent. An internal note states: ``Incidents have come to the notice of this Railways from time to time that heavily armed bodyguards accompanying Pappu Yadav, ex-MP, are forcibly entering 1st AC coaches of trains, specially the New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express and occupying berths allotted and reserved for other passengers.''

In another incident reported to the Railway Board, Yadav and a dozen other people are said to have boarded the Guwahati-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on the night of August 10. They boarded the train at Katihar and occupied cabin F in the first class AC coach. They are also said to have taken over coupe C and misbehaved with the catering staff.

``It is a law and order problem,'' Mehmood adds. ``Our staff on the train does not have the judicial power to do anything in such cases. They are not even armed.''

In an internal note, railway officials have stated that if Yadav were an MP, thematter could have been brought to the notice of the Speaker. However, since he is a former MP, the two options the railways have is either to write to the chief secretary or file an FIR. The railways decided to choose the first and are now trying to figure out what to do next.