Surinder Kumar shows his identity proof at Ranchi station on Wednesday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, Aug. 11: An unrelenting Maoist threat — and possibly an implicit assumption that the capital and steel city Jamshedpur are turning into safe havens for terror outfits like SIMI and Indian Mujahideen — have prompted the railways to give up a British-era practice of booking parcels without identity proofs.

For the last couple of weeks, every person seeking to book parcels at Ranchi station are being asked for, preferably, a photo ID like voter card, driving licence, PAN card or Aadhaar card or any document issued by a government department and containing postal address of sender. Other stations under different railway divisions across the state are following suit. Earlier, one only had to write down one’s postal address and that of the person who would receive the parcel.

“We received an order from the Union railway ministry to take parcels only after properly verifying the identity of the person who is booking the consignment. This is being done for security reasons,” said Santosh Kumar Dubey, senior divisional security commissioner, Ranchi railway division.

Besides this lens on identity, metal detectors are also scanning every parcel before it is booked. As extra cover, the parcels, upon arrival at designated stations, are again being put through metal detectors before delivery.

Railway sources said most stations across Jharkhand were highly sensitive owing to the heavy presence of the Left-wing extremists and verifying identity of senders and checking parcels had become a necessity.

“We are asking for identity proofs and scanning consignments due to security reasons,” confirmed Dayanand, the senior divisional commercial manager of Dhanbad division.

Officials conceded that the Union ministry had issued the directive as there had been earlier instances of weapons and fake currency notes being parcelled from stations. Sources said that while regular clients booked 80 per cent parcels, 20 per cent senders were first-timers. “It is on these consignments that we are paying maximum attention,” an official said.

When security is in question, clients are not complaining either. “We have no problem. In fact, this will help us in the long run,” said Surinder Kumar, who came to Ranchi to book a parcel for Ludhiana.