KOLKATA - A ticketless passenger accused a woman ticket checker of stripping her, leading to a mob fury at the bustling Sealdah station here. But an official inquiry found she had disrobed herself to draw sympathy from fellow commuters, a railway official said Tuesday.

“Asima Biswas, 47, was Monday travelling without a ticket. She was asked by a woman ticket checker at the Sealdah railway station to show her ticket. But she failed to show any, and instead took off her sari,” an Eastern Railway (ER) spokesman told IANS.

“Biswas, in a semi-clad state, suddenly came out of the ticket checker’s office and started shouting in the station premises to garner public sympathy,” he said.

The ER ordered a probe into Biswas’s allegation but found the claim to be untrue.

“Her family members today came to deposit a fine of Rs.261 with railway authorities at Sealdah,” the spokesman said.

But on Monday evening, as Biswas created a scene on the crowded platform, a large crowd vented anger by damaging some railway property, including telephones and the windscreen of an EMU local train.

They also put up blockades on the tracks at Sealdah, disrupting the railway movement for nearly two hours during the peak-hour evening time.

“A few railway staff members and a policeman were also injured in the public fury. A complaint was also lodged with the GRP against the offender,” the spokesman said.