Alleged molester nabbed on Railway Minister's prodding

Bhubaneswar: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday won appreciation as his swift action led to the arrest of a 50-year-old man who allegedly misbehaved with a girl student while she was travelling in the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express on Thursday.

Dharanidhar Pradhan, Inspector, GRP, Bhadrak said that the girl, who was travelling alone in the train yesterday, sent an SOS on her smartphone seeking help.

She alleged that while she was asleep, the accused, identified as Bani Prasad Mohanty, touched her inappropriately.

She woke up and protested. The accused denied the charges.

The girl, however, posted a message on Facebook on the alleged incident following which one of her friends brought the matter to the notice of the Railway Ministry.

The Railway Minister directed the train security personnel to take appropriate action against the accused, the GRP said.

Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel nabbed the accused and deboarded him at Tata Nagar. Later, he was handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Bhadrak in Odisha.

The man was produced in the court later in the day.

Meanwhile, the Railway Minister in a tweet said: There can be no compromise when it comes to safety of our women passengers. Any deviance will be dealt severely.