Bengaluru: Security beefed up at railway, bus stations after threat call

BENGALURU: Security has been beefed up at railway stations and bus terminuses in the aftermath of the serial blasts in Sri Lanka last Sunday and the hoax call received by Bengaluru police control room on Friday.
“All trains from Tamil Nadu are being checked at Dharmapuri, Bangarpet and Carmelram entry points. One armed company of state police and a bomb disposal squad are being deployed at city railway station,” E Vijaya, chief public relations officer (CPR) of South Western Railway, said.
She said early morning and peak-hour rush is being mitigated by ensuring access control. Only authorised people are allowed to be present at stations. “Checking with hand-held metal detectors and dog squad is on. Travelling ticket examiners, coolies, station cleaning staff and autorickshaw unions at the station have been briefed and counselled about the need to be alert and report suspicious things or activities,” Vijaya added.
Ashok Kumar Verma, divisional railway manager (DRM) of Bengaluru division said security has been beefed up on the premises of all railway stations and rail users have been sensitised about the alert. “Railway stations being busy places with huge crowds, we keep on evaluating and updating security protocol in consultation with the state police,” he said.
Shivayogi C Kalasad, KSRTC managing director, said in view of the threat call, all public places like bus stand are on high alert and strict vigilance will be enforced. All divisional controllers and security officers have been told to submit compliance reports every hour to the central office control room.
“We’ve also increased checks in bus stations and luggage rooms. If any suspicious person/thing is found, the nearest police station and KSRTC officials need to be intimated,” he said, while BMTC officials also said they have intensified checks at bus stands across the city.
Many Metro users has urged Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to enhance checks at stations. @3rdEyeDude tweeted: “Please beef up security at all #nammametro stations, ask your security guards to monitor x-ray machines and check metal detectors unlike how you causally carry out checks everyday. If any untoward incident takes place, you will be held responsible #BMRCL (sic).”
KVN Doss, a passenger tweeted: “Namma metro is very vulnerable to terrorist attacks as security is very lax. Security personnel are hardly serious about checking passengers thoroughly. Please urgently enhance security measures at all metro stations (sic)”. BMRCL managing director Ajay Seth was unavailable to comment.