The 41-year-old Australian was on her way to New Jalpaiguri from Patna. The tainted deputy chief executive engineer, Anup Kumar Roy, boarded the compartment she was travelling in from Katihar, around 320km from the Bihar capital. With a few passengers in the coach, Roy allegedly molested her.

When repeated requests of the foreigner did not have any impact on Roy, she raised an alarm. Sniffing trouble, Roy stopped misbehaving with her.

When the train (3248 Up ) reached Barsoi, the Australian national immediately lodged a complaint with the Government Railway Police (GRP). Acting swiftly, the GRP personnel zeroed in on Roy, who is a resident of Malda. The Australian national continued with her journey.

DSP (headquarters), railways, Satyadev Pandey, told The Telegraph: “Fifty-year-old Roy, a deputy chief executive engineer (Construction) of the railways boarded the compartment in which the Australian was travelling at Katihar. He was also going to New Jalpaiguri.”

Pandey said: “After Danapur, very few passengers remain in the air-conditioned compartments of the train. Taking advantage of the situation, Roy groped at her asking where she was going and why was she travelling alone.”

Roy allegedly misbehaved with the woman continuously during the 45-minute journey between Katihar and Barsoi. He spared the woman only after she raised an alarm.

Free from the clutches of Roy, the woman wrote a detailed account of the incident on a piece of paper and gave it to the GRP as soon as the train reached Barsoi.

“On receiving the complaint, the GRP acted immediately and Roy was arrested under Section 354 of the IPC. He has been sent to jail,” Pandey said, adding that a case has been lodged at the Kishanganj police station in this connection.

Director-general of police of Bihar Neel Mani confirmed the incident.

Earlier, in April this year, a 25-year-old Japanese tourist was raped in Gaya district. The incident had taken place after sunset when the girl had hired an autorickshaw from Bodh Gaya to go to the Gaya railway station.

She had been raped by the auto-driver and four others at a deserted place between Gaya and Bodh Gaya.

The auto driver had deliberately taken a deserted route. The other four accused followed the three-wheeler. Three persons have been arrested so far in this con- nection.