686 passengers arrested in Pune this year over chain pulling incidents
Coming down hard on commuters pulling the alarm chain unnecessarily or for frivolous reasons, the Pune railway division has registered a total of 833 cases so far this year wherein as many as 686 passengers have been arrested
Coming down hard on commuters pulling the alarm chain unnecessarily or for frivolous reasons, the Pune railway division has registered a total of 833 cases so far this year wherein as many as 686 passengers have been arrested. The Pune railway division has collected a total of Rs127,000 in fines from these offenders.
Manoj Jhawar, spokesperson of Pune railway, said, “Every passenger must plan travel time to reach the railway station well in advance to board the scheduled train as there are many cases of chain-pulling by relatives or friends. It has become a tendency of passengers to simply pull the chain for petty reasons. They give reasons like luggage left outside or family members gone to get snacks or water or people getting delayed to board the train.”
According to Railway Protection Force (RPF) data, a total of 929 chain-pulling cases were registered in 2021 out of which 803 people were arrested, whereas 324 such cases were registered in 2020 when Covid-19 struck and train services were shut down for most of the year. When someone pulls the chain while the train is standing on the platform, RPF personnel have to first find out the bogie where the chain-pulling has taken place and then search for the person responsible. A person found guilty of pulling the chain without any valid reason is liable to be fined to the tune of Rs1,000 or imprisoned for one year or both under the Indian Railway Act.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 200 train operations were carried out from Pune railway station with more than two lakh passengers travelling daily. The number of train operations has reduced due to the pandemic. Currently, around 230 train operations are carried out, with a footfall of over one lakh passengers.