In the wake of the terror strikes in Sri Lanka and subsequent measures taken by enforcement agencies for public safety in Kerala, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP) have intensified vigil and flash inspections at stations across the district.
Consequently, parcel booking services will be regularly monitored. According to RPF and GRP squad members, the attempt is to prevent possible chances of booking parcels containing forbidden materials, especially explosive substances and drugs. The squads have been silently operating for a week though nothing suspicious has emerged so far, they said. Closed-circuit television cameras are all functional, helping the railway authorities in Kozhikode and other stations monitor movement of passengers and vendors. Officers in plain clothes too are on the field to keep an eye on those moving in suspicious circumstances and caught on camera or spotted by informers.
Poor screening measures at railway parcel booking offices have been a cause for concern for squads in charge of security of public infrastructure and transport. Carriers of banned products, mostly narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, have been found exploiting security flaws to flourish in business. Thanks to the absence of a gated compound and poor checking at entry and exit points at railway stations, many of them have been using parcel booking services.
GRP sources said many a time consignments were booked and shipped using fake addresses, and that anonymous agents camped at certain stations to receive them. During police checking or surprise raids, it is quite difficult to track suspects owing to the trickery, they added.
RPF, GRP and Excise squads had tracked a few illegal consignments with narcotic drugs during raids recently. However, no major arrests were made. Railway stations at Koyilandy and Vadakara have been brought under frequent checking by patrol squads to prevent movement of illegal goods.