Middleman thrashes migrant who protested exorbitant train fare in Gujarat

A migrant labourer from Jharkhand has allegedly been thrashed in Gujarat’s Surat by a middleman, who had received over ₹1 lakh for the travel of 100 workers on special trains. The middleman, who has been claimed to be a BJP worker, had allegedly charged three times the regular ticket fare. However, the saffron party has denied his links with the party.

In a video that is doing the rounds on social media, the migrant labourer, named Vasudev Verma, is seen badly injured with blood dripping from his head. Vasudev alleges that he had gone to one Rajesh Verma to receive the train tickets for around 100 migrant workers to travel back to Jharkhand. The workers had allegedly paid Rajesh ₹1.16 lakh.

“When I had gone to get the tickets, Rajesh Verma said he would not return the money and asked me to do whatever I could,” Vasudev says in the video. “He [Rajesh Verma] has been selling tickets for ₹2,000 and when I protested that, he thrashed me with a plank and threw stones at me. I am badly hurt,” Vasudev says.

The video was shared on Twitter by a Congress functionary, who alleged that Rajesh Verma was a BJP worker. Even, Rajesh had claimed on his Facebook account that he was a BJP worker, NDTV reported. However, the local unit of the saffron party has said Rajesh was not a party member, but was only deputed to arrange tickets for migrant workers.

Meanwhile, TV9 Gujarati reported that Rajesh Verma had been collecting money from migrant labourers in the city as per the directions of BJP corporator Amitsingh Rajput. After the video went viral, the police have registered an FIR against Rajesh Verma on the charges of attacking the migrant worker.