The railway authorities have revoked the suspension of Shafiqul Islam, a travelling ticket examiner (TTE), for 'behaving rudely' with ticketless passengers amid widespread criticism.
On Sunday Shahidul Islam, the manager of Bangladesh Railway's Pakshey Divison, said the railway ministry has instructed the authorities to reinstate TTE Shafiqul, reports bdnews24.com.
"The railway minister has asked for the suspension order to be withdrawn," he told reporters.
A show-cause letter will also be sent to Nasir Uddin, the divisional commercial officer of Pakshey who issued the suspension order, according to Shahidul.
Shafiqul was reportedly suspended after fining three passengers, who had introduced themselves as relatives of Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan, for travelling without tickets on the air-conditioned berth of the Dhaka-bound Sundarban Express from Pabna on May 4.
Reports of the incident caused a stir on social media as various organisations, including Transparency International, Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association, condemned the move.
TIB called on Sujan to resign from his position “temporarily for the sake of a fair and impartial investigation” into the incident.
“The incident is a shameless and vile example of abuse of power… this 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,” TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said in a statement.
But Sujan distanced himself from the three passengers who had identified themselves as his relatives when asked about the matter on Saturday.
The minister said he had been informed by the railway authorities that the TTE was suspended for being “rude” to those passengers.
“Perhaps, they [the passengers] were trying to take advantage by using my name,” he said.
