Delhi Metro commuters can now report crime, file complaint at 23 stations
The Metro system, comprising 134 stations, has 10 police stations with a total strength of 220 personnel. Police will now man booths at 23 stations and help commuters file complaints.
Commuters who face harassment, stalking or theft in Delhi Metro will not have to go to police stations to lodge a complaint. The Delhi Police has issued an order asking its staff to be present at the booths at 23 Metro stations and help passengers in filing complaints.
As per the order, police personnel will be present at the booths between 9am to 5pm. Once more staff is available, the facility will be extended round-the-clock and across all Metro stations. The booths will also be provided computers so that e-FIRs can be filed.
Crimes in Delhi Metro are dealt with by the Metro wing of Delhi Police. The Metro system, comprising 134 stations, has 10 police stations with a total strength of 220 personnel. These stations are spread far and thin over the vast Metro network and raising a complaint or reporting a crime can prove to be a challenge. The 10 police stations are at Shastri Park, Kashmere Gate, Rithala, Raja Garden, Rajiv Chowk, Janakpuri, Airport, Ghitorni, INA, Nehru Place, Yamuna Bank Depot and Pragati Maidan.
“Unlike police stations in the city covering residential area, 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 Raja 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 Pankaj Singh, DCP (Metro).
About 28 lakhs passengers take the Delhi Metro very day and this year, till date, about 11,000 cases of crime have been registered. About 90 per cent of these are related to theft and pick pocketing, where an e-FIR can be filed.
With these booths in place, the commuters will no longer 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,” Singh added.
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For passengers travelling in Metro, lodging a complaint of their missing items has always been a tedious task. The recent case of molestation of a journalist at ITO station highlighted this problem. The complainant had to allegedly wait for about 45 minutes before lodging a complaint.