In an unusual act of honesty, a Bangladeshi expatriate paid his due fare eight years after travelling on a train without a ticket.
The expatriate, Hayat Ali, with the help of the rail station authority, bought the overdue train ticket worth Tk340 from Chapainawabganj Railway Station on Wednesday afternoon, thereby absolving himself of guilt that had been with him for nearly a decade.
Eight years ago, Hayat Ali, then a carpenter, had travelled on the Padma Express from Dhaka to Rajshahi without a ticket due to an unsuccessful attempt to buy one.
Despite not having a ticket, Hayat managed to board the train that left Dhaka at 11pm and, fortuitously, even found a vacant seat.
Throughout the journey, he slept, and the traveling train ticket (TT) examiner did not check for his ticket. When he woke up, he found himself at his destination, Rajshahi.
Recently, Hayat Ali returned to Bangladesh from Qatar. Recalling the past incident, he felt guilty about his unauthorized train journey.
To clear his conscience, he visited the Chapainawabganj Railway Station and shared the incident with the concerned officials. Then the station master helped him purchase the ticket Hayat Ali was supposed to buy eight years ago.
Dhaka TribuneSpeaking on this matter, Hayat Ali shared: "I boarded the train with the intention of buying a standing ticket, but fell asleep after finding a seat. I was not even aware of when the ticket examiner passed by. Upon waking, I found myself in Rajshahi. Subsequently, the thought of settling the debt crossed my mind, but I was unable to do so. Upon returning to the country, I was ridden with guilt."
“Now I feel relieved having cleared my debt,” he said, expressing his joy, adding that everyone should travel by train with a valid ticket.
Railway Nirapatta Bahini's (RNB) Chapainawabganj railway station In-Charge Md Helen confirmed the incident.
He said: "A passenger came to our station and confessed that he had travelled without a ticket eight years ago from Dhaka to Rajshahi. He wanted to pay for that journey now. We then coordinated with the station master to arrange a ticket for him."
Mohammad Obaidullah, the station master of Chapainawabganj Railway Station, said these kinds of instances are rare and this incident could encourage other passengers who travelled without tickets to come forward.
“Hayat Ali has set a commendable precedent for our society. As per his request, we issued him a Dhaka-Rajshahi ticket and added the revenue to our account,” he added.