On June 4, state minister from Bihar, Sarfaraz Ahmed boarded the Guwahati Rajdhani at Katihar with some of his supporters. In a complaint filed with the Northern Railways, the 250 men were apparently travelling without tickets.

According to the complaint filed by a passenger: ``When the train reached Barauni station, the TS approached the minister and told him that the passengers who had boarded with him were creating a nuisance in other coaches and the bonafide passengers were threatening to write a complaint against the TS.''

In his report, ticket superintendent (TS) D K Jain has stated: ``I was taken to the AC I- A cabinby the minister, his bodyguard and four-five other people. They locked the door of the cabin and beat me up. My colleagues came to my rescue, but by then I had nearly fainted. Passengers pulled the chain and stopped the train.'' The complaint also states that the assailants took Jain's coat, tie and the Rs 645 he was carrying before disembarking from the train.

Following the incident, the train was held up at Patna railway station for around three hours while an FIR was lodged and other formalities taken care of. Northern Railways has informed the Bihar Chief Secretary about the incident and asked his office to take appropriate action.

``But we are not really expecting a reply or response from them,'' says a senior railways official. ``After all, the last time we forwarded a similar complaint no action was taken. In fact, the Chief Secretary never got back on that complaint.''

This incident comes in the wake of a similar one in January this year. British National R J Rees was travelling on the NewDelhi-Guwahati Rajdhani when he came across former member of parliament Pappu Yadav and his men. The AC Class I compartment was taken over by Yadav and his supporters. According to the complaint filed by Rees, he was forced to use the upper berth and not allowed to move till Yadav's men had cleared the compartment. The British High Commission complained about the incident. The case is still pending with the Bihar Chief Secretary.

Aslam Mehmood, Chief Commercial Manager (Northern Railways) says: ``These are unfortunate incidents. But we cannot take any direct action. We have informed the concerned authorities. Now they have to take action.''

Following the Rees complaint, railway officials had declared this situation ``a law and order problem''. They are still saying the same thing. Ticket checkers and catering staff on the Guwahati Rajdhani have mentioned the harassment they face at the hands of ticketless travellers in a number of their internal reports. ``There have been occasions when our catering staffhas been threatened and asked to cook for unauthorised people,'' says a railway official. ``It is something our staff has to deal with all the time, particularly on this route.''