Five catering employees on the Howrah-bound Geetanjali Express who allegedly beat up passengers were arrested at Kharagpur station on Monday.

Passengers on the train from Mumbai said the catering staff had been charging extra and beat up four of them when they protested.

Government railway police took Iqbal Khan, the manager of the catering unit on the train, and four others into custody after the passengers lodged a complaint at Kharagpur station. The five are employees of a private agency to which catering on the train had been outsourced.

A few months ago, the railways had decided that the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) would take over catering on all trains. Since the agency’s contract is not over, its employees were serving the passengers on the Geetanjali Express.

“We will take stringent action against the five if they are found guilty,” said a spokesperson for South Eastern Railway.

Passengers of an AC three-tier compartment alleged that the catering staff had been charging extra since the train left Mumbai on Sunday.

“After the train left Tatanagar station around 8.30am, we protested about being made to pay extra,” said Raj Kumar Malya, one of the passengers who was beaten up.

“The employees admitted that they were charging extra and asked us to accompany them to the pantry and have a word with the manager. An altercation started in the pantry and suddenly the employees started raining blows on us. We were taken aback but managed to escape,” he added.