Crime at railway stations up, detection poor: RTI query

NAGPUR: While the crime rate across railway stations in the region is increasing, detection rate is going down. As per information obtained by RTI activist Abhay Kolarkar, Government Railway Police (GRP) registered 8,151 offences in last 15 months (January 2017-March 2018) but detected only 956 offences, which is about 12%. Most of the offences were related to theft.
As many as 2,759 offences were registered over last three years (January 1, 2013- December 25,2016), showing that the crime rate has increased four times since then.

The RTI data also shows that more people die after falling from trains than in railway mishaps. As per data provided by deputy superintendent of police MG Inamdar, 721 people died after falling from running trains during the last 15 months, including 585 persons in January-December 2017 and 136 in last three months. “This means, on an average at least two passengers lose their lives after falling from running trains,” Kolarkar said.

As compared to this, data submitted to Rajya Sabha by non-profit body IndiaSpend reveals that 458 people died due to train derailments over the last 10 years (2007-2017).

As per Kolarkar, as many as 1,394 train accidents were reported in India over the 10 years, which were considered for analysis. 51% or 708 accidents took place due to derailments.

The jurisdiction GRP is spread across 3,687km. It covers 23 districts in Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Khandesh. There are around 194 police stations in the said GRP jurisdiction.

To a query by Kolarkar on drugs being smuggled through trains, the GRP has informed that 27 offences were registered against drug peddlers and over 515kg ganja (marijuana) worth Rs43.78 lakh was seized. The arrested accused included 18 men and 2 women.

“The amount of recovery itself speaks volumes about narcotics drug smuggling through trains,” said Kolarkar.