NGO asks GRP to pull up actor for train stunt

A non-governmental organisation called Sahas has approached the Government Railway Police (GRP) asking it to take action against actor Anil Kapoor, who drew flak after he was clicked standing on the footboard and hanging out of a local train from Churchgate to Mumbai Central on Thursday.

President of the foundation Syad Furqan Ahmed met with GRP commissioner Nikit Kaushik Saturday morning with a written letter asking the GRP to take action. “We think that the actor should apologise for what he has done, as he has a certain influence on youth. They might try to emulate him and think it’s okay to perform such stunts. We have spoken to the commissioner Kaushik and have requested him to take some action against the actor,” said Mr Ahmed.

In the letter, a copy of which is with this newspaper, the foundation has pointed out that the railways has been conducting campaigns against footboard travel and that this stunt by the actor has thrown cold water on their efforts. An enormous amount of tax payers’ money is spent on advertising to spread awareness among youth to deter them from performing such stunts, the letter further said.

Mr Ahmed has also said the foundation would be filing an RTI on the terms of the contract between the railways and the production house on which shooting was agreed upon. “The RTI will be filed to know the exact terms of the shooting that was discussed and signed upon between the production house and the railways,” Mr Ahmed added.

Mr Kaushik said he had asked his officers to file a report, and if a first hand report (FIR) could be filed against the actor.

The Western Railway’s (WR) Railway Police Force (RPF) had sent a notice to the marketing agency M/s Market Men which had signed the contract with the railways, on Friday itself.

The actor’s ride from Churchgate to Mumbai Central, which was a promotional event, backfired after photographs of him hanging out from the train were put on social media sites. The actor was promoting the second season of his series 24, produced by the television channel Colours.

When asked about their side of the story, spokespersons from the Channel promised a call back with their statement but did not do so.