Mumbai Man Finds Cockroaches in Dal on Vanda Bharat Express: 'They Were Crawling in the Pantry’

A man travelling with his family of six from Shirdi to Mumbai on the Vande Bharat Express has lodged a complaint with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), citing multiple instances of food contamination during the journey. He alleged that he found cockroaches in his meal and was also served spoilt curd.

“The incident happened with my sister. She is a vegetarian. She nearly finished her dal when she noticed a cockroach in it. We immediately called the TC and both the junior and senior catering managers, who confirmed the presence of the cockroach in the dal,” Rikki Jeswani told News18.com.

He claimed, “When we went to the pantry, we saw that the food was being prepared next to the dustbin, with cockroaches crawling around.”

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Jeswani also alleged that he was served curd that was 4-5 days old, overly sour, and likely spoilt. When he requested a refund for the contaminated food, his request was denied.

In his official complaint to IRCTC, Jeswani reported finding both a live and a dead cockroach in the food served on the train. He also claimed that the curd provided was sour. Jeswani mentioned that the entire C5 coach faced similar issues. He further noted that the incident was confirmed by IRCTC Managers Narendra Mishra and Alok Singh.

In a video that is all over the Internet, Jewasni’s son Aryan can be heard saying, “I ordered another packet of curd, and have opened four of them…. I couldn’t consume the curd.”

He added, “A one-year-old was sitting in front of me, I was having dal when my aunt told me that a cockroach was found inside the dal. The same food is consumed by my 80-year-old grandfather. Can he stomach the contaminated food?”

Take a look at the contaminated food and the official complaint below:

“We will take this forward. What else can be done?” he further told News18.com, adding that IRCTC assured him that they would take action against the service provider.