Soon, no train will run without escorts from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. in inter-State stretches. In a bid to step up safety, particularly to keep a tab on property offences, the railway security forces will take up marching of beats on either side of the State borders.
This was decided at a coordination meeting of Government Railway Police (GRP) Districts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala along with Railway Protection Force (RPF) Divisions of Chennai, Salem, Trichy, Kerala, Bangalore, Guntakal and Vijayawada conducted on Tuesday in Vellore.
Presided by P. Vijayakumar, Superintendent of Police, Railways, Chennai, the meeting discussed ways to prevent and detect property offences and strengthen security on tracks adjoining inter-State borders. Officers in the ranks of deputy superintendents of police, assistant security commissioners along with inspectors took part in the meet.
One of the decisions arrived at the meeting was effective coordination in marching of beats in running trains on either side of the State borders. “Personnel will be deputed on beats from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. Inter-state stretches such as Jolarpet-Bangarapet, Arakkonam-Renigunta, Chennai Central-Gudur and Coimbatore-Palghat will be covered,” an officer said.
Whether the GRP Bangalore or Tamil Nadu will take up the marching on a particular inter-State stretch will be communicated everyday, he said, adding, “We need to ensure that the gap is filled. We have made a list of trains. We will go back and finalise which security force would be involved to see that there is no overlapping.”
Information exchange
Exchange of information on active property offenders in various States and sharing of intelligence among RPF and GRP officers was discussed during the meeting.
Similarly, the officers deliberated on the need to study and analyse the different modus operandi of criminal gangs from various States. Real time exchange of information on property offenders and offences through the control room of respective railway police district was also looked into during the meeting.
The coordination meeting dealt with the need to help, cooperate and coordinate during the arrest of the criminals hailing from other States. It deliberated on conducting periodical coordination meetings of similar kind in future. The next meeting would be conducted by railway police district of Karnataka during the last week of May.
Sharing of good practices being followed, including mobile CSR in Tamil Nadu and brining in voluntary special police officers and network for gathering intelligence was discussed. They will also coordinate and cooperate among cyber cell units of different railway police districts.
The SP said discussions were going on these aspects and decisions will be arrived soon. A structure will be put in place before the next meeting at Karnataka.
Co-ordination meeting discussed ways to prevent and detect property offences
