Suresh Prabhu suspends two RPF officials in Odisha

Two Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel were suspended in connection with the alleged thrashing of a differently-abled man at Balasore station in Odisha after Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered a probe into the incident.

The information about the suspension came into light through a twitter post by Prabhu, who had yesterday directed the Director General of RPF to investigate the matter after a video clip of the incident went viral on local news channels.

"I had taken immediate cognisance of the case, had ordered enquiry. Subsequently two RPF personnel responsible have been put under suspension," Prabhu tweeted.

The suspended personnel were on train escort duty at the time of the incident, Railways officials said.

Action was taken after three personnel from Balasore RPF who were on platform duty on that day were summoned by the Railways authorities at Kharagpur and interrogated, they said.

The video clip, taken from a mobile phone by an onlooker, showed unidentified armed personnel kicking the differently-abled man, evoking sharp criticism from different sections of the society.

While locals alleged that the man was assaulted by RPF personnel on January 3 on a platform, local officials of the RPF said they had no information about the incident and had not received any complaints regarding it.

Both RPF and Government Railway Police (GRP) of Balasore said they had no knowledge about such an incident.

It was alleged that the differently-abled man (who has lost one leg), was thrashed for allegedly stealing a mobile phone of a passenger in a Guwahati-bound train.