Chhaya Gangurde, one of the two who were fined.

MUMBAI: A group of four woman government employees is in trouble for occupying extra seats and not letting other passengers, including a cancer patient, use the space in the general compartment of Mumbai-Manmad Panchavati Express.

While two of them, a BMC architect and a staffer from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, were produced before a court and penalised, the police are on the lookout for the other two, who too work with the civic body.

Architect Chhaya Gangurde, MSEB’s Tanuja Kale, and BMC officials Sunita Potimde and Sarojini Patil came under the radar of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in June after a flurry of complaints against them.

The complainants alleged that the women, who commute between Nashik and Mumbai daily, were a nuisance. They keep their belongings on the seats and do not allow others to sit saying their friends would board the train from next station, said the complaints.

The issue comes at a time when the railway cops are dealing with rising instances of commuters being harassed at the hands of groups in ladies compartments of local trains in Mumbai. Last week, four women were arrested for assaulting a college student after she tried to get down at Vasai from a Virar-Churchgate fast local.

In her complaint, Igatpuri resident Sangeeta Chandak, said she is required to visit the Tata Memorial hospital in Parel for her cancer treatment every week and that she was at the receiving end of the bullying tactics of Gangurde and her friends.

“On four to five occasions, I wasn’t allowed to sit despite there being space in the compartment. I recently underwent a surgery and a tube was hanging from my body. Even that had no effect on them. They would block space saying the coach was for pass holders,” said Chandak, 52.

The group’s trouble began when a team of woman cops boarded the coach on June 7 to verify the allegations. An official from the RPF said, “When a lady constable was videographing the coach, Gangurde tried to stop her.”

The women were then summons directing them to present before the RPF. Gangurde and Kale responded after many summons and were fined Rs 500 each. “We are on the lookout for the other two,” said the official. Senior Divisional Security Commissioner C M Mishra said, “Based on the complaints of genuine commuters, we formed a special team that raided these problematic coaches and exposed the offenders.”

OFFENDER CRIES FOUL

After paying up the fine, Gangurde tried to play victim. She lodged a complaint with the railways saying the coaches do not have any signage indicating that the compartment is for women commuters. She said they blocked seats to prevent men from occupying them. About her complaint, Mishra said, “She has the right to complain. We will investigate her complaints and take corrective measures if needed.”

