Jamshedpur, April 13: Next time you start for the station here to board a midnight train, ask your dear ones back home not to suffer from any uncanny fear. Reason: the crime rate in and around the station has plummeted.

The credit to make the Tatanagar station safer goes to the Railway Protection Force (RPF), especially their innovative method of curbing crime at the railway station adopted a fortnight ago. For nabbing criminals and other anti-social elements, the RPF personnel have started patrolling the railway station in plain clothes. This has helped in curbing crimes at the railway station over the past couple of weeks.

An official said the RPF personnel on duty at the outpost are still sporting uniform. Those patrolling the station area wear plain clothes, he added.

“The personnel in uniform are easily identified by the criminals and they get an opportunity to flee noticing the RPF men from a distance,” said Laxman Prasad, the officer in charge of the RPF’s Tatanagar outpost, adding that the crime rate had climbed down considerably after adopting the new concept.

“We have been striving hard to check the incidents of theft and other crimes in the station area. Our work has become easier after the introduction of the patrolling teams in plain clothes,” he said.

A senior official said the RPF outpost at the station had registered eight cases, including seven related to pick-pocketing, in March. But in April just one case has been lodged till date.

The RPF outpost officials also claimed that the number of recovery incidents had increased remarkably after the introduction of the new ploy. “Last month we recovered costly ornaments, cash and arms from criminals. The recovered items were returned to the victims,” Prasad said, adding that now the commuters were mixing with the commuters easily.