Faced with a spurt in train robberies by drugging, Howrah railway police have taken the initiative to acquaint passengers with the culprits.

Most of the robberies have taken place on long-distance trains, including Rajdhani Express.

As part of the pre-empt plan, photographs of criminals with a history of drugging passengers will be put up at major railway stations and the 13 railway police stations under Howrah division.

Apart from posters on the wall, prominent display boards will carry the photographs of offenders from all over the country.

The railway police have also held talks with hawkers? unions following reports of criminals drugging passengers in the guise of vendors.

In a bid to improve the efficacy of the initiative, the districts and neighbouring states like Orissa and Jharkhand will follow suit in the near future.

Every month, about 20 passengers of long-distance trains reach Howrah in a drugged state, robbed of all their belongings. Five to six of the robberies occur in the jurisdiction area of Howrah railway police.

?Recently, there has been a number of incidents in which people have been drugged by criminals posing as co-passengers. It is very difficult to track these men since we do not get to know of the robberies immediately. Therefore, we want to make the passengers aware of the threat and the need for co-operation,? said K. Jayraman, superintendent, Railway Police, Howrah.

The profiles of the criminals, their history and modus operandi will be highlighted in the posters and display boards. Policemen stationed nearby will brief passengers about how to avoid being robbed.

Initially, photographs of 25 history-sheeters will be put up on the boards, which will be regularly updated.

?Robbers posing as hawkers are the most difficult to spot since a number of unregistered vendors board the trains. We have asked unions to inform us about the non-members,? added Jayraman.