Chaitali in Behrampore. Telegraph picture

May 27: A visually challenged woman was pulled out of a seat on a government bus by the conductor today because the seat was his.

When 24-year-old Chaitali Bairagya pleaded with the conductor that she was “100 per cent handicapped”, he allegedly snapped: “You may be 1000 per cent for all I care. I will not allow you to occupy my seat.”

The conductor of the Bal-urghat-bound North Bengal State Transport Corporation bus then took her hand and pulled her out of the seat amid other passengers’ protests.

The bus did not have a reserved seat for the physically challenged, which is mandatory.

Another passenger, Alimuddin Sheikh, offered his seat to Chaitali.

The shocker comes close on the heels of a string of incidents of rude behaviour by conductors in Calcutta. On Thursday, a physically challenged man was abused for not carrying small change for the fare and pushed off a running bus.

Chaitali, a singer empanelled with the All India Radio, Murshidabad, lost her vision when she was in Class IV. She boarded the bus around 8am from Rejinagar to go to Behrampore town for music lessons.

“A seat near the door was vacant and I sat there. But the conductor rudely asked me to get up. When I showed my disability card (which certifies the level of disability in percentage) and told him I was 100 per cent disabled, he told me that even if I was 1000 per cent, I would have to vacate the seat,” said Chaitali.

At Behrampore, Chaitali and her brother-in-law, who was with her, lodged a complaint with Murshidabad additional district magistrate Jibankrishna Sadhukhan.

At the NBSTC’s Balurghat depot, bus conductor Anjan Ganguly, in his late 40s, denied having mistreated Chaitali.

He said the long-distance bus had two seats for employees. The spare driver was occupying one. “Both the woman and her companion demanded that they be provided seats. I told them the lady could occupy my seat, but the gentleman couldn’t ask for one. She took my seat,” said Ganguly.

However, Alimuddin, a resident of Plassey, corroborated Chaitali’s charge. “I was surprised to see the conductor pull the sightless lady out of the seat. I protested and offered my seat to her,” he said.

In Calcutta, a joint secretary in the transport department said government buses must have reserved seats for the physically challenged. “I shall seek a report from the NBSTC director. The conductor’s conduct will be probed.”

The NBSTC has already ordered a probe.