Since 2016, 449 persons booked for trespassing railway tracks
New Delhi: Since 2016, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrested as many as 449 persons for trespassing railway tracks. Meanwhile, to stop stone pelting on passing trains, the force also identified few places in six stretches of Delhi-NCR. The RPF data accessed by Millennium Post claimed that in 2016 as many as 100 arrests were made whereas in 2017, 140 arrests took place while last year the arrests increased to 209.
Dr Rajeev Kumar, senior Divisional Security Commissioner told this newspaper that the arrests were made after they were accused of trespassing. "Adequate security arrangements have been maintained in the jurisdiction," said Kumar. Trespassing also included movement across railway tracks, entering railway premises without proper permission and misusing the railway properties.
The trespassing claimed several lives across India. In October 2018, an speeding train ran over a crowd of people on the eastern outskirts of Amritsar, Punjab. The crowd had gathered on the railway tracks to watch the Dussehra celebrations.
Stone pelting and curbing
There are few spots in six stretches which includes Sabzi Mandi-Badli, Delhi Cantt-Gurgaon, Nangloi-Rohtak, Dayabasti, Panipat-Kurukshetra from where stone pelting reported. "When the complaints regarding stone pelting increase, special teams patrol the track in order to safeguard passengers and also the trains," said an RPF officer.
The data claimed that in 2016, as many as 100 cases of stone pelting were reported whereas in 2017, approx 122 stone pelting incidents happened while last year in 158 cases, stones were thrown on passing trains.
"We have aware children to not involve in stone pelting and also several awareness programmes are going on in clusters close to tracks," said Rajiv Kumar. According to RPF, during the investigation of stone pelting, it was found that in some cases children were found pelting stones on the trains endangering lives of passengers. "The children living near clusters take throwing the stone as a game to aim on trains," said RPF official.
