Over 30 SCR Railway Staff Assaulted on Duty in Past 5 Years, RTI Reveals

At least 30 cases of physical assaults on railway officials on duty were reported across the South Central Railway zone between 2021 and 2025, with the Secunderabad division recording 14 of these incidents, according to official data obtained through the Right to Information Act.

Figures provided by the Railway Protection Force revealed that ticket-checking staff and frontline personnel were among the primary targets of violence. The Nanded division registered the highest number of attacks with 16 cases, followed by 14 in the Secunderabad division and two incidents in the Guntakal division over the five-year period.

The victims of these assaults included ticket examiners, travelling ticket examiners, ticket inspectors, station masters, and Railway Protection Force personnel.

Railway police officials stated that altercations frequently erupt during routine inspections of reserved coaches when ticket-checking staff or RPF personnel encounter passengers travelling without valid tickets or inside unauthorised coaches.

According to a senior railway police official, arguments typically begin when passengers are asked why they boarded the train without valid tickets and are instructed to pay penalties or detrain at the next station. These disputes often escalate rapidly, leading some passengers to turn violent and scuffle with the on-duty staff.

The RTI response highlighted that several officials sustained both minor and grievous injuries as a result of these attacks. In one documented incident, two RPF personnel from the Nanded division were required to take medical leave following severe injuries suffered during an assault on duty.