Many take ill after eating ‘stale’ dinner on Rajdhani

More than a dozen passengers, including an MP, took ill after eating dinner on Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express on Friday.

"I am feeling weak and don't feel like talking," Sunita Kumari, 16, who is suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting, said in Ranchi on Saturday. "I was fine before dinner."

Her co-passenger Kameshwar Baitha, a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP, was also treated for food poisoning.

"The dinner served on the train was stale," he said.

The affected passengers were travelling in AI, A2 and HI bogies. When the train reached Allahabad station at around 9.30 pm, they reportedly complained to the Railway Police personnel that they had taken sick after being served stale food.

The personnel then allegedly beat up the pantry staff. "Even the cooks were badly thrashed," claimed Sumit Yadav, who works in the train's pantry.

After an hour past midnight, the train halted at Mughal Sarai station near Varanasi, where the affected passengers were treated by a team of doctors on the platform. "The doctors administered saline water and gave us packets of electrolyte," said Baitha.

"The illness was not of very serious nature," said Neeraj Ambasht, Chief Public Relations Officer for East Central Railway.

He said they have sent samples of the food for testing. "As and when the report arrives, necessary action would be taken," he added.

The Indian Railway and Tourism Catering Corporation, which serves food on the trains, too admitted the food may have been stale. "Prima facie, it seems there was something wrong with the food," said Deputy Manager Sudhakar Singh.

Some of the passengers, meanwhile, threatened to go to court. "I don't know about others, but I am going to move court against the Railways," said Sunita Kumari said.

With ENS, Allahabad

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