TTE Shafiqul’s dismissal
order withdrawn in a day

Staff Correspondent: Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan has said that the suspension order of Travel Ticket Examiner (TTE) Shafiqul Islam, who was fined for traveling without a ticket, has been revoked.
At the same time, Rail’s Pakshi Divisional Commercial Officer (DCO) Nasir Uddin has been asked to show cause for his temporary dismissal, the minister said.
Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan made the remarks at a press conference at Railway Building yesterday.
According to multiple railway sources, three passengers on the Dhaka-bound intercity Sundarbans Express train from Ishwardi Junction station on Thursday night (May 5) boarded the AC cabin without ticket. At that time TTE Shafiqul Islam, who was in charge of the train, wanted to see the ticket from them.
They introduced themselves as relatives of the railway minister.
Talking to Assistant Commercial Officer (ACO) of Pakshi Divisional Railway Nurul Alam about the TTE issue, he suggested to buy a ticket with minimum fare. At the suggestion of the ACO, TTE Shafiqul Islam made the three train passengers a ticket for ordinary seats in a cheap class non-AC coach with a total fine of Tk 1,050 instead of AC ticket. At that time the attendant in charge of the train and others were present. After that TTE Shafiqul Islam was dismissed.
TTE Shafiqul Islam was sacked following a phone call from Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan’s wife Shammi Akhter Monir, said Yasmin Akhter Nipa, the minister’s wife’s cousin. Yasmin Akter Nipa is the mother of Imrul Kayes, one of the three passengers who got into the AC cabin without a ticket and introduced himself as a relative of the minister.
Yasmin Akhter Nipa, a local media person, told local media on Saturdaythat she had asked the minister’s wife, Shammi Akhter, to transfer him to the TTE for abusing the boys. Then Shammi told me ‘Not transfer, dismissal’. He immediately called a senior railway official and asked him to resign.
The railway minister said, “If there is a mistake, people will see it that way.” If it is seen here, my wife has done something wrong, I had no involvement in it. It is said that this is happening because of the minister. If I had something to do, I could do it directly. No one will need help. The message is not the way it is.
The railway minister further said, “TTE Shafiqul Islam did his duty properly that day. TTE’s job is to bring order to the railways. His job is to help the railway passengers, to help them, to provide services in the right place. That is the responsibility of the railway people. We are embarrassed by the way it happened now.