Little did Piyusha Mehta know that fulfilling her civic responsibility by reporting a Borivli station canteen boy who ripped her off to the authorities would turn ugly for her. The 53-year-old social worker was assaulted with clubs by two workers on Thursday just outside the station canteen.

Mehta, a Goregaon resident, had complained to the station master of being overcharged by Rs2 and Rs3 by a canteen worker, Ramesh Maity, 29, for a cup of tea and a water bottle, respectively, on Tuesday. The railway canteen charges Rs3 for tea and Rs12 for a bottle of water. When Mehta questioned the boy about the discrepancy, he sounded evasive.

Mehta then took it up with the Borivli station master, LP Gupta, and gave him a written complaint. Gupta, however, discouraged her from doing so, claiming that the canteen owner was a very influential man and things could go against her. But Mehta did not waver. The station master then asked her to approach the railway protection force’s office in Borivli to file a complaint, which Mehta proceeded to do. Based on her complaints, the canteen owner dismissed the errant worker.

But Maity was in no mood to let sleeping dogs lie. As Mehta approached the same station canteen on Thursday, Maity and a canteen worker, Jaiswal, abused her and began hitting her with wooden clubs. When the 53-year-old collapsed in a pool of blood, the two fled.

A commuter called the railway police, who rushed her to the Bhagwati Hospital in Borivli with severe head injuries and broken teeth.

Senior Inspector PM Karyakarte of the Borivli police station said Maity had been nabbed but Jaiswal was still at large. A manhunt has been launched for him.

During a preliminary investigation, Maity confessed that he attacked Mehta in a fit of anger when he got to know that he was sacked following her complaint.

Railway activist Sameet Zaveri promised to take up with the railway board in New Delhi the issue of “the nexus between canteen owners and station masters” to cheat commuters by overcharging food and beverage.