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600 commuters caught travelling on Mumbai trains with fake IDs
The Central Railway (CR) has caught 600 commuters attempting to travel on the suburban rail network with fake essential worker identity cards between July 2020 and January 2021
The Central Railway (CR) has caught 600 commuters attempting to travel on the suburban rail network with fake essential worker identity cards between July 2020 and January 2021.
Multiple cases of fake identification have been registered by the government railway police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF).
The cards were identified during an inspection by railways ticket checking staff.
Local train services resumed for employees working in essential services on July 15, 2020. Differently-abled passengers and cancer patients were also permitted to use the rail services, and later, women passengers and lawyers were given stipulated time slots within which they could travel.
“During our regular checking, we have found many passengers trying to travel with fake identity cards. Majority of cards have been found by pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic and imaging centres,” said a senior CR official.
Train services were suspended from March 23 due to the spread of coronavirus in the city.
Most recently, a woman passenger was detained at Kalyan railway station on Tuesday for attempting to travel by a local train carrying a fake identity card. The Kalyan GRP registered a case against the passenger.
Last Friday, CR officials caught 58 fake identification card-holders at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
Meanwhile, passenger associations have stated that many daily wage workers have no other options and train services should resume for the general public with staggered office hours.
“Most of the people who have started to go to work daily cannot afford road travel. Local trains are an affordable means of commute. The state government and railways should introduce staggered office timings for private and government employees, and allow the general public to travel,” said Lata Argade, secretary, Suburban Railway Passenger Association.
Further, the CR anti-tout squad arrested three people and seized 400 e-tickets worth ₹6.43 lakh in December 2020.
