Metro police staff told to be present at booths from 9 to 5

NEW DELHI: With the crime graph at Delhi Metro stations rapidly rising, the city police have issued an order asking its staff to be present at police booths in 23 Metro stations and assist commuters in registering their complaints.

According to the order, police staff will be on duty at the booths between 9 am and 5 pm. Once the strength of police personnel increases, they will work round the clock across all Metro Stations.

Moreover, computers will also be installed at these booths so that commuters' e-FIRs can be filed.

Crimes in Delhi Metro are dealt with by the Metro wing of Delhi Police. The Metro network, comprising 134 stations, has 10 police stations, with a total strength of 225 personnel.

These stations are spread far and thin over the vast Metro network, making it a challenge to file a complaint or report a crime.

The 10 police stations are at Shastri Park, Kashmere Gate, Rithala, Rajouri Garden, Rajiv Chowk, Janakpuri, INA, Nehru Place, Yamuna Bank Depot and Pragati Maidan.

"Unlike police stations in the city covering residential areas, the jurisdiction of a Metro police station is spread over a long distance. For instance, the station between Rajiv Chowk and Dwarka Sector 21 Metro station comes under the jurisdiction of Rajouri Garden Metro Police Station. The average time taken from the police station to reach a Metro station is about half-an-hour. We are trying to reduce inconvenience for passengers," said a senior police official.

Nearly 28 lakh passengers travel through Metro every day and about 11, 000 cases of crime have been registered till date. Of these, around 90 per cent cases are related to theft and pick pocketing.

Once these new police booths are functional, commuters will not have to worry about jurisdiction.

They will be able to approach any booth on the Metro network with their complaint, irrespective of where the crime took place.

"We have to ensure police presence at crowded Metro stations. We encourage victims to lodge complaints as this will help us nab the criminals," the official added.