MUMBAI, SEPT 1: The Government Railway Police (GRP) has begun implementing a scheme of mobile police stations on long-distance trains and baggage tagging even as it seeks government approval for a set of unique schemes which include installing strongrooms and providing baggage insurance to baglifting cases.While mobile chowkies were started in four long distance Central Railway trains a month ago, the proposals, prompted by an increase in crime in trains, were submitted to the railway administration a month back.``We are stressing on the preventive aspects of the crime since detecting baglifting cases is not easy. The scene of crime - the train - has disappeared and passengers have to break journeys to lodge complaints,'' said Inspector General, GRP, S Chakravarthy.While all trains leaving the city in the evening are given an escort of three GRP constables, the concept of mobile chowkies has been started in four central railway trains, the Vidarbha Express, Calcutta Mail, Punjab Mail and theMumbai-Varanasi Mahanagri Express. The party comprises one head constable who remains static in the post and three constables who continuously patrol the length of the train.The railways have allotted the GRP three berths in a compartment on all these trains for use as a mobile police station. ``The advantage behind these mobile chowkies is that the passenger doesn't have to go hunting for a police station on the platform and can lodge the complaint on the train itself,'' Chakravarthy said.The measures have been prompted by an increase in the number of baggage thefts in trains. Last year, 1,760 cases of baggage thefts and loss of property worth Rs 3 crore have been reported from trains in the state. Most importantly, it is the change in the profile of the bag lifter that has alarmed the GRP.``Gone are the days when baglifters were poor and desperate; these days we are shocked to find them to be people who can afford first class A/C tickets,'' says SP GRP T S Bhal.The system of baggage tagging hasbeen introduced on an experimental basis in the first class A/C compartment of the Punjab Mail a month ago. Passengers are given a tag to be fixed on the bag along with a counterfoil, which has to be shown to the coach attendant or ticket checker who verifies the code numbers. The GRP has termed the response as excellent. ``This not only prevents subversive attempts of sabotage on trains, but it also discourages thefts,'' explains Bhal, saying that if it becomes a success, it can be implemented in all 13 railway zones.The GRP has also suggested baggage insurance, which has already begun with New India Assurance in their Nagpur division on an experimental basis. Chakravarthy said that several companies had approached the GRP to undertake the scheme in Mumbai.Meanwhile, the GRP has suggested converting a linen cupboard or one of the toilets into a vault to store passenger valuables. ``The railways can charge a small fee for the use of this facility,'' Chakravarthy said, adding that such measures wouldincrease customer satisfaction.WR spokesperson Vinod Asthana said that all the proposals were under active consideration by the railway. Two WR trains, the Frontier Mail and the Paschim Express already have police escorts on them.The Central Railway too is considering the other GRP proposals. ``But it may not be feasible to convert linen cupboards into vaults as trains carry linen for 46 passengers in the II A/C compartments and for 65 passengers in III A/C,'' said CR spokesperson Mukul Marwah.
