The order to suspend a train ticket checker for fining three ticketless travellers on Dhaka-bound “ Sundarban Express” will be withdrawn , Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said on Sunday amid call for his resignation for the unfair action against the TTE. He also said that he felt embarrassed by the phone call his newly married wife made to a railway official getting involved in the incident. “A probe has already been ordered to into the matter and how they (the ticketless travellers) lodged a written complaint so quickly,” he told reporters  at Rail Bhaban.  “Action against those responsible will be taken after the investigation,” he said adding a show-cause notice has been issued against Nasir Uddin, Pakshi divisional railway commercial officer (DCO) to explain why he suspended the travelling ticket examiner (TTE) Shafiqul Islam. READ: Not involved in TTE suspension, passengers were not my relatives: Sujan Shafiqul, who works at Bangladesh Railway’s Pakshey Division, was suspended on Friday, a day after he fined three individuals for travelling in an air conditioned coach without tickets claiming that they were relatives of the railway minister. Angered by the fine the three lodged a complaint to the railway authorities accusing the TTE of “misbehaving” with them. The suspension of the TTE in which the railway minister’s wife reportedly had a role touched off widespread criticism on the social media with Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) calling on the minister to leave office to allow a fair investigation into the incident. Talking to reporters on Saturday the minister denied that the ticketless travellers are his relatives. A day later on Sunday he changed his statement though. Replying to a question over denying the passengers as his relatives, the minister said “Now I have come to know that those who were travelling by the train are relatives of my wife.”  “Since I got married for the second time nine months ago I had to talk to my wife for their identity. Until Saturday I was totally unaware of it,” he added. “My wife complained about the ‘misbehavior’ of the TTE but did not talk about the suspension. Whatever she did without informing me was not right and it embarrassed me,” he said. Responding another question whether Bangladesh Railway should award the TTE Sujan said may be he would be awarded or promoted. Earlier on Saturday, the minister claimed to have no involvement in the suspension of a TTE Shafiqul Islam, over “misbehaving with passengers”.  On Friday, news broke of a TTE on a train being suspended for fining three people claiming to be railway minister’s relatives who were travelling without tickets. The TTE was said to have been suspended over a phone call without being given a chance to even defend himself.  Sujan also claimed that he is not aware of the suspension of the railway official.       Meanwhile, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has condemned the suspension of  a TTE. TIB in a press release on Saturday said that “As such a situation has arisen involving the Railway Minister and the ticketless passengers used his identity, he should resign from his position temporarily for the sake of a fair and impartial investigation into the incident.”

Transparency International Bangladesh has condemned the suspension of  a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) for fining three people claiming to be Railway Minister’s relatives who were travelling without tickets. TIB in a press release on Saturday said that “As such a situation has arisen involving the Railway Minister and the ticketless passengers used his identity, he should resign from his position temporarily for the sake of a fair and impartial investigation into the incident.” TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said, “The incident is a shameless and worst example of abuse of power and power has been misused in two ways in this incident. Firstly, the ticketless passengers claimed to be the relatives of the Railway Minister assuming that the existing law of the railways does not apply to them! Secondly, The TTE was immediately suspended over a phone call without being given any chance to defend himself.” Also read: Info minister considers legal action against TIB for lies The concerned ticket inspector had fulfilled his duty but dismissing him when he should have been rewarded sent the wrong message to the people that the seizure of power and irregularities are the reality, he said. “Moreover, this worst example will still be considered a strong negative message for the very few who are faithfully and honestly performing their duties in their respective fields,” said Iftekharuzzaman. Also read: Zahid trashes TIB Covid report as non-transparent