Surat train hawker jailed after viral neta-mocking vid

A hawker selling toys in trains was jailed for ten days and slapped a fine of Rs3,500 hours after he was arrested by Railway Protection Police (RPF) in Surat. This comes after a video clip of him mimicking politicians while selling toys to attract passengers went viral on social media.

Avadhesh Dubey, in his early 20s, was arrested by RPF on Friday under section-44, (prohibition on hawking and begging), 145 B (spreading nuisance or using abusive language in railway carriage) and 147 (unlawful entry into train) of Railway Act.

Surat RPF inspector Ishwar Singh Yadav told DH, “For the past five to six days a video was being circulated widely that showed Dubey selling toys in trains in a particular manner. When we started inquiring, we found that he was not a registered hawker and hence, we filed an FIR and arrested him.”

On Friday evening, Dubey was produced before a railway court where, according to Yadav, he confessed that he had been selling toys unauthorizedly. The court sentenced him to ten days jail term and slapped a fine of Rs3,500. Yadav said that Dubey deposited the fine and was sent to Lajpore jail.

For the past five days, a six-minute-long video of Dubey was doing the rounds on WhatsApp groups, YouTube, Twitter among other social media platforms. In the video, he is seen selling toys to the passengers while mimicking politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal among others.

Dubey, originally from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, was born and brought up in Valsad where he parents migrated. Following his arrest, scores of people expressed their anger on social media and appealed for help. In several posts, it was claimed that he “canvassed for the BJP” during the recently held Lok Sabha polls. Dubey is being hailed on these platforms as "stand-up comedian" and "Talented Train Seller."

“Had we not taken any action media would have questioned us and now that we had indeed taken action, people are objecting to it,” Yadav complained.