Patna, April 17: It was a busy day as usual at Patna Junction this morning with passengers running around to book their tickets or to board their trains. But in a startling contrast, the “May I help you?” booth of Patna police at the railway station was a picture of calm.

Barring a probationary sub-inspector, there was no other men in uniform at the kiosk. Worse, the trainee cop sitting in one of the chairs at the booth was not on duty there.

“I am not the one responsible here. Two constables have been deployed to man this booth but they have not come in since the morning,” he said.

On being asked the reason for the men on duty missing in action, the probationary sub-inspector said: “The panchayat polls are near, so they have been sent on duty. I doubt there will be anyone here tomorrow.”

The submission of the cop reflects the lack of seriousness of the police in taming the rowdy auto drivers. The spurt in crimes committed by autorickshaw drivers in the city seems to have failed to shake the men in uniform out of their reverie. The unmanned “May I help you?” kiosk, which is supposed to help passengers at Patna Junction 24x7, is a proof enough.

Former Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) B.S. Meena had set up the booth after a woman from Uttar Pradesh was gangraped on December 4 last year by an autorickshaw driver and his friends. The victim had hired the auto near the railway station. The efficiency of the booth came under scanner after a 16-year-old girl was gangraped by an auto driver and his friends after she boarded a vehicle from Patna Junction on April 14.

With no one to man the kiosk, the register in which the details of the autorickshaw drivers ferrying passengers from the railway station are supposed to be entered remains un-updated.

Not that the register was up-to-date earlier. Most of the entries were illegible and the dates were jumbled. For April 14, there were three entries with 2010 written in the year column!

Alok Kumar, the Patna SSP at present, had yesterday said: “The booth is working fine. The details of passengers and autorickshaw drivers are being noted down even in the day. People should approach the police for help.”

But a reality check by The Telegraph today proved he was unaware of the situation at the “ground zero”.

Worse still, most of the passengers at the railway station, especially those from outside, are unaware of the existence of the police booth.

“I don’t know about it. I did not even notice it,” said a passenger, after walking past the booth with his family.

He can hardly be blamed. For, a group of people were standing in front of it to beat the sun. They were unknowingly guarding the notice board that informs the passengers about its existence and functioning.

The passenger added: “There should be some signage informing the passengers about this (booth).”

The police officer at the booth agreed. “Passengers should take the initiative and come down to the kiosk to get help from the police. But they should at least be made aware of its existence. There should be a signboard at the entrance to the station premises to inform the passengers about its existence,” said the policeman.