'To earn profit of Rs 5-10 per bottle, passengers lives were risked'
New Delhi: "For a profit of just Rs 5-10, people risked railway passengers lives by selling spurious water bottles, the following revelation was made during the questioning of arrested persons under "Operation Thirst" in Delhi
division.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF), after a massive crackdown on the sale of unauthorised water bottles in trains, have briefed their personnel to continuously scan CCTVs and check water carts entering through the gates at different stations.
According to RPF officials, they have arrested more than 40 persons involved in selling illegal water bottles to passengers in Delhi division. Their (accused) questioning revealed that they were earning a profit of Rs 5-10 per bottle.
Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (RPF) Dr An Jha told Millennium Post that after the arrest, the accused persons told them about the profit margin per bottle as the main reason behind carrying out such illegal activity.
"Among the arrested persons, we found that authorised vendors were also involved in the act. Now we are keeping a secret watch on food stalls inside various stations," added AN Jha adding that they have also informed the concerned agency.
According to RPF official, few days after "Operation Thirst", they conducted another surprise inspections at stations to check the supply of illegal bottles.
"We did not found anything inside the premises," said the official adding that they are keeping a close eye on small stations in the city.
The official further added that the accused involved in the illegal business choose stations where security is less so that they can easily sell bottles.
RPF personnel were briefed by seniors to continuously monitor CCTVs so that they can check whether the bottles carried in various carts are authorised and also the movements of suspicious persons carrying stock of bottles.
RPF further said that personnel were told to physically check water bottles carried in the carts to make sure that no spurious bottles are hidden between genuine one.
"Operation Thirst" was launched on July 8 and 9. It was a pan-India crackdown on the unauthorised selling of packaged drinking water (PDW). More than 1000 persons were nabbed during the drive.
