Malda, Sept. 13: An RAC passenger?s anger at being denied a berth led to a heavily-armed police force swooping on the Guwahati-bound Saraighat Express as it pulled into the station here last night to arrest a ?dacoit? allegedly nabbed by passengers.

The dacoit turned out to be travelling ticket examiner (TTE) Tarun Kumar Adhikary, who had been hemmed in by a number of people protesting against his ?selling? of a berth to a passenger.

The trouble began when the Cooch Behar-bound Pranati Samanta was denied a berth in the S-1 coach by Adhikary. ?Around 8.30 pm, I suddenly saw the TTE allot a berth to a person who was not in our coach. I asked the man how he got a berth and he replied saying he had given Rs 200 to the TTE,? Pranati said.

A furious Pranati raised a cry over the TTE?s action and a crowd soon gathered around her. About 20 passengers set out to look for Adhikary and dragged him back to Pranati?s coach.

Adhikary, who said all he did was switch berths to allow a mother and son to travel together, said he had been pushed around and not allowed to explain what had happened. ?Some of them even called outside from their mobile phones stating that a dacoity was taking place in the train,? Adhikary said.

Malda station manager Palash Das issued a memo to the GRP saying a dacoity had occurred on the Saraighat Express and that the GRP should ?please attend and do the needful?. Das later said he heard about the ?dacoity? from the Railway Protection Force security control where the mobile phone calls were supposedly routed. A heavily armed force was deployed at the station within minutes and senior officers rushed to the station.