RailEnquiry

KOCHI: A request for a piece of cloth to cover an air gun has landed a Thiruvananthapuram native in police custody. French national Gabriela Goutier lodged a complaint against Manoj (39) of M M Nivas in Kilimanoor with the railway police in Kochi saying that his actions scared her. The incident occurred aboard the Thiruvananthapuram-bound Jan Shatabdi express around 10.30am. The train was somewhere near Mulanthuruthy and Manoj was traveling in D-8 coach, said Ernakulam railway police SI Vinod C. "He was drunk and asked a Frenchwoman sitting beside him for a cloth to warp the gun. Failing to comprehend what he said in Malayalam, the woman raised an alarm. She might have thought that the person was going to attack her. On hearing her cry, fellow passengers came and caught him the man and called the train ticket examiner (TTE)," he said. When the train reached Kottayam, the next station, Goutier lodged a complaint with the railway police. As the incident occurred under the jurisdiction of Ernakulam railway police, he was taken back to Ernakulam. Police slapped section 118 of Kerala Police Act for public nuisance under the influence of alcohol. "Carrying an air gun doesn't come under the Arms Act. So, he can get bail. It is learnt that he has been working in a local factory in Kilimanoor," said the officer. Police said Goutier later alighted at Kayamkulam and visited a shrine.