Ambuj Caterers may lose Railways' catering licence

The Railways has ordered an inquiry into the food poisoning incident and strict action will be taken against the caterer if found guilty, Northern Railway spokesperson Neeraj Sharma said.

"If negligence on part of the caterers is established, then a suitable penalty and cancellation of licence of the caterers are being contemplated," he said.

Asked about the amount of penalty, he said it could be up to Rs two lakh.

Seventeen passengers, JMM MP Kamleshwar Baitha, of Delhi- Ranchi Rajdhani Express, fell ill on Friday night after consuming food from the train's in-house pantry managed by Ambuj Caterers.

The passengers complained of an upset stomach and started vomiting after taking dinner comprising rice, bread, mixed vegetables, paneer, soup and ice cream.

Railway officials are suspecting bad paneer to be the cause of food poisoning.

"We are suspecting paneer served in coach no HI, AI, A2 and B7 in Ranchi Rajdhani as possible reasons for food poisoning. However, the real reasons will be known only after the final inquiry reports made available to us," Sharma said.

The food samples have been sent to Lucknow for examination.

The incident has put the railways again on the spot as there have been increasing number of complaints against standard of the food being served in trains, including premier ones like Rajdhani and Shatabdi.

Besides Ranchi Rajdhani, Ambuj Caterers also serves food in Kashi-Viswanath Express.