Admitting his wife's involvement with the suspension of Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) Shafiqul Islam of Bangladesh Railway (BR), Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan on Sunday asked the BR authority to withdraw the suspension order.
At the same time, he asked the authority to serve a show-cause letter to BR's Divisional Commercial Officer (DCO) of Pakshey Division Nasir Uddin for suspending him without informing the minister.
While briefing media at his Rail Bhaban Office in Dhaka on Sunday, Sujan also admitted the three passengers who were recently fined by TTE Shafiqul for ticketless travelling, are the relatives of his wife and it was his wife who lodged the complaint against TTE Shafiqul Islam in this regards.
"I, till Saturday, wasn't aware that the passengers who were fined were
relatives of my wife," he added.
Expressing his embarrassment over the incident, Sujan said, "I felt 'embarrassed' by the phone call his newly married wife made to a railway official following the incident. She hasn't done the right job."
"However, she did not ask the railway authorities to suspend the TTE," he claimed.
He informed, "The suspension order of the TTE Shafiqul has been revoked. The BR authority has been asked to withdraw the order. At the same time, a show-cause notice has been issued against Railway's Pakshi DCO Nasir Uddin for his actions."
In response to a query about TIB's reaction demanding his resignation after the incident, the minister said, "TIB's statement was issued in a hurry. They did it before confirming my involvement here."
The suspension order of the TTE came on Friday following his alleged misbehaviour and fining three passengers, who were travelling ticketless and introduced themselves as relatives of the railway minister.
However, the Railway Minister on Saturday claimed that he is not related to the passengers.
"I have no relationship with them. Someone may have tried to take advantage by using my name for travelling ticketless by the train - the Sundarban Express from Ishwardy railway station," he said.
The incident drew widespread criticism and many demanded the resignation of the railway minister.
