Caught ticketless, UP Haj minister cries conspiracy

It took 27 Northern Railways (NR) officials, 25 Railway Protection Force (RPF) and 10 Group for Railway Protection (GRP) cops to extract a fine of Rs 14,056 from Haji Yaqub Qureshi today.

NR officials present there said the UP Minister for Minorities Welfare and Haj abused them and threatened to get the entire family of one of the officials killed. The drama took place at Alamnagar railway station in the outskirts of Lucknow.

“After receiving information from the Railway Board that the minister is travelling by Lucknow Mail without a ticket, we stopped the train around 7 am. After repeated requests, the minister finally opened the door of his AC-I coupe, and after much arguments produced the photocopy of his ticket and the high official requisition (HOR),” said R.A. Ram, assistant commercial manager, NR.

When repeatedly asked to show the original tickets, Qureshi reportedly said he was being “harassed” as part of a “political conspiracy”.

“I am writing to the Centre. I will later disclose the names of the people who are harassing me,” he was quoted as saying. The officials said Qureshi also claimed that he and all his peon, gunners and aides had valid tickets. It was after about half-an-hour of heated arguments with the railway staff — media had also reached the scene by then — that Qureshi finally agreed to pay the fine.

Meanwhile, other travellers had to suffer, as the train got delayed by 45 minutes.