Nagpur: The railway authorities on Sunday confiscated around 500 substandard oranges before they were sold to passengers, during a random raid in and around Nagpur railway stations. Oranges are in high demand among passengers crossing Nagpur, which is known for its citrus fruits.
While the railways have authorised vendors for oranges, illegal sellers dupe passengers by offering them low quality oranges at cheap rates, with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff turning a blind eye to this menace.
Substandard oranges, which were unfit for consumption, were found abandoned near the pit line for maintenance under the Ram Jhula. These oranges were later destroyed near the parcel office. The commercial department teams of Nagpur division of Central Railway, under senior divisional commercial manager (SrDCM) Aman Mittal, also detained three unauthorised ‘chana' sellers, who were handed over to Railway Protection Force (RPF).
A couple of days ago, a chana seller had stabbed two passengers in the Puri-Ahmedabad Express. Shortly after the stabbing, railway authorities had started drives to flush out unauthorised vendors and food sellers from their premises.
On Sunday, chief commercial inspectors (CCI) Tara Prasad Acharya, Mahesh Waghmare, Nitish Kumar, Pralay Mandal, and Deepak Singh led teams against illegal vendors under the supervision of Mittal, in which 11 vendors were found on the platforms. Some 20 vendors escaped, abandoning their materials on the platforms. "We are committed to the safety of the passengers and their safe travel and access to hygienic food and water," said Mittal, adding that stringent drives will continue.
Sources said vendors have been accessing trains and platforms from various secret routes, including unguarded portions at Itarsi ends and the outer signal cabin near Loha Pul. Even the place behind the newly constructed office of the Criminal Intelligence Branch of the RPF is known to have become a hub for illegal vendors. In the last two days, Nagpur division staff prosecuted 23 illegal vendors, which included 12 from Nagpur railway station and five from Wardha-Nagpur and Nagpur-Itarsi sections, and seized 10 boxes of unauthorised packaged drinking water.