Lalu in-laws caught without valid tickets

The in-laws of Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav were allegedly found travelling without valid tickets in a First Class air-conditioned coach of a superfast train

The in-laws of Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav were allegedly found travelling without valid tickets in a First Class air-conditioned coach of a superfast train on Tuesday. The elderly couple were reportedly questioned by the ticket inspector during checking at Chhapra railway station. Chhapra incidentally is the Lok Sabha constituency of the minister.

Though Railways authorities strongly denied any such incident, Chhapra Station Superintendent Umashankar Prasad neither confirmed nor denied the incident. However, he acknowledged that the minister8217;s in-laws were travelling on the train.

Late on Tuesday evening, Lalu said, 8220;Everybody is equal before law. I have sought a report on the matter from Divisional Railway Manager.8221; He said both his in-laws had tickets worth Rs 52 each which had been upgraded.

While A K Chandra, Chief Public Relations Officer, East Central Railway, strongly denied any such incident having taken place in his zone, Manoj Kumar, CPRO, North Eastern Railways, seemed to corroborate Lalu8217;s explanation when he said, 8220;They had tickets for Second Class travel for their journey between Hajipur and Siwan. At Hajipur station itself, they requested the conductor to change their ticket from Second Class to AC Class, which under rules is permissible and can be done by paying extra fare. The couple paid Rs 1,092 additional fare and were allowed to travel in AC I.8221;

However, BJP leader and Bihar8217;s Youth, Art and Culture Minister Janardan Sigriwal, also travelling in the same coach, was categorical that the 8220;elderly couple8221; were 8220;indeed found travelling without tickets8221;.

Sources said, Lalu8217;s father-in-law Shiv Prasad Chowdhury and mother-in-law Marachia Devi were travelling from Hajipur to Siwan by the superfast 2565 Bihar Sampark Kranti Express Darbhanga to New Delhi. At Chhapra, there is a change of guard among travelling ticket inspectors. The inspector who took over then had no information about the VVIP travellers and caught them without valid tickets.

JDU spokesman Shivanand Tiwary, who recently quit the RJD, said: 8220;All the relatives of Lalu treat the Railways as their personal property and thereby don8217;t buy tickets.8221;