They fear that they might be targeted following the release of Sameer Sardana, who is being interrogated by the Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) of Goa Police and the Intelligence Bureau from New Delhi for suspected terror links.
When Herald inquired as to how the workers feel about working at the railway station, the railway staff and even the labourers who work as loaders revealed that nobody feels safe today at the station.
Anticipating trouble, two officials of Vasco railway station, Yogendra Rathi and Kuldeep Kumar, who work as ticket examiners, have already lodged a complaint against Sardana (44), a Dehradun native, with Vasco railway police for threatening both of them with dire consequences early Monday morning.
A non-cognizable case under Section 506 (II) of IPC has also been registered by the police. However, this has not calmed their nerves. Today, from tea sellers to paper vendors to the cleaning staff, everyone wants updates about Sardana and the outcome of the ATS inquiry.
Sardana had allegedly threatened railway staff with dire consequences and the fear is that, either he or his sympathisers might target them all. The police, meanwhile, have beefed up security at the station since Wednesday.
“Samir Sardana was first picked up by ATS officials from Vasco railway station on January 31, but they released him in the evening after questioning. After being released, Sardana, who had a dormitory booking for Sunday night, came back to the station not only to stay, but also to threaten us, suspecting that one of the railway staff must have provided details about his presence to the police and ATS,” said Kumar.
Rathi still recalls every interaction with Sardana at the railway station. He said, “He was not a normal passenger or even tourist. Whenever I asked him about his native place, he always gave me a different reply. One day, he told me that he is from Chandigarh in Punjab. Second time he told that he is from Delhi. Another time he told me that he is from Thailand and he is visiting Goa as he has some import-export business. I knew that he was lying and reacting in a harsh manner is his personality, but I never thought that he would come down to the office to give us threats by saying, “You will come to know later what I can do with you all”. Since he has been arrested, I am living in constant fear.”
According to Rathi and Kumar, it was around 6 am on Monday when Sardana, who was occupying dormitory number 3 and bed number D-2, charged towards them and started quizzing them.
“He only wanted to know who gave details of his presence to the ATS, who complained about him and at what time the station manager would come. He even asked us if we had a contact number of ATS officials, and the moment we gave a negative reply, he started threatening us with dire consequences, including death,” said Kumar.
Sources at the Vasco railway station informed that Sardana used to book a dormitory room of the Vasco railway station online from Pune, Mumbai or other cities. It was also disclosed that Sardana opted mostly for dormitory rooms, and in the last two weeks, he had booked a room on six occasions.
Raja Saab who works as loader (coolie) at the railway station revealed that he knew Sardana by face as the latter always used to give Rs 100 Rs to him for taking his luggage from platform number 3 to outside the station.
He said, “He was a frequent visitor to Vasco, sometimes by Goa Express, sometimes by Amravati, sometimes by a Chennai train. We have seen him getting down from AC bogies, and without any bargaining, he used to pay Rs 100 to take his luggage outside.”
For Sajeev, a caretaker who looks after the rooms and dormitory, Sameer was an arrogant man who didn’t give a single rupee as a tip. He said, “I have never seen passengers like him. He was arrogant and of a demanding nature. Whenever he entered the dormitory room, he first wanted the AC remote and then the TV remote. For any delay in getting the same, he used to shout at me and show his arm muscles. But what surprised me more was the way he used to keep the dormitory room locked from the inside and used to take 15 minutes to open the door, as if he was trying to hide things from people.”
From Kuldeep, to Sajeev, many people at the Vasco railway station have seen this passenger exhibit different behaviour.
