Jamshedpur, Nov. 10: Two train dacoities, within a span of four days, have exposed chinks in the railway security armour.
Last night robbers looted and assaulted passengers of the New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express. On November 7, passengers of the Hatia-Howrah Express were looted between Tiruldih and Chandil railway stations.
The railway police have failed to make a breakthrough in both cases and the authorities have begun passing the buck. While senior railway officials of Chakradharpur have held the Government Railway Police (GRP) responsible for failing to check robberies on trains, the GRP expressed helplessness in providing escort teams on trains due to shortage of manpower.
A preliminary investigation into both the incidents has revealed that the escort team on the trains had only four members. Going by the book, each escort team should have at least eight jawans. The dacoities took place in the general compartment without the escort team even getting wind of what was happening because they were posted in the reserved compartment.
Train dacoities have become common in the Chakradharpur and Adra division of the South Eastern Railways. Over a dozen robbery incidents have taken place so far during this year in both these divisions, the most vulnerable section being the stretch between Muri to Chandil. This section witnessed about eight robberies during the last five months. The incidents took place in major trains including Ahmedabad-Howrah Express, Purushottam Express, Azad Hind Express and Tata-Chhapra Express.
So many incidents within such a short span of time have raised questions over security arrangements on trains, especially at night. “We have taken up the issue of intensifying night patrolling on trains with GRP a number of times, but they expressed their inability to do so due to adequate manpower. The GRP personnel are responsible for the security of passengers,” said R.K. Singh, divisional railway manager of Chakradharpur.
Concerned over last night’s incident, Singh has asked superintendent of railway police Bhageshwar Jha to review the situation and take immediate steps to step up security arrangement in trains passing through Chakradharpur division.
Railway sources said this is the second time in the last six months that robbers have targeted passengers of Purushottam Express. In May, passengers of the train were looted near Sini railway station.
The Chhotanagpur Passengers’ Association has expressed concern over the rising cases of dacoity on trains. A member of the association, B.N. Pandey, said: “It’s high time that railway authorities and GRP take immediate steps to check such incidents. Dacoities on Express trains is a matter of shame for railways.”
The railway police did not rule out the involvement of organised gangs.
