Rlys dub passenger protests at Pune station anti-national (Eds: Rpting after change in para one)

Describing the protest by passengers that prevented the Deccan Queen Express from leaving Pune Station as "anti-national", Railways today said three women commuters were arrested for "obstructing a running train."
On Monday, around 100 daily commuters of Pune-Mumbai Deccan Queen Express, staged a protest demanding that the train should leave from platform number one instead of platform number five.
Railways said that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was currently going through the CCTV footage and will soon identify other passengers who blocked the train's journey.
The Deccan Queen, a popular train among passengers who commute between Pune and Mumbai, has been departing from platform number 5 of Pune railway station for last few months instead of platform number one as has been the practice of several years.

The decision to shift the departure platform was taken due to "operational compulsion".
"Around 100 commuters held up the train for almost one hour and railways have taken this act seriously and held three female commuters under section 174 (A) (obstructing a running train) of the Railways Act," said a release issued by the public relations office of Pune Division.

In the release, Pune's Divisional Railway Manager B K Dadabhoy said, "Such anti-national act will not be tolerated at any cost and action will be taken as per the legal provisions."
He also appealed the commuters not to take the law into their hands and cooperate with railway administration for smooth functioning of the trains.

In the release, Pune DRM office said the Railway Protection Force has obtained CCTV footage and photos of the incident and with the help of the evidence the identity of other commuters, who were involved in the Monday protest is being probed and they too will face the action.
The three women commuters were later produced before Railway Magistrate, who imposed a fine on them, the release added.