Austrian’s stolen bag: Railway cops at CST deny negligence

GRP officials have denied that they tried to shirk their duty by not immediately filing a case after an Austrian national complained that his handbag was stolen at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus CST.

Government Railway Police (GRP) officials have denied that they tried to shirk their duty by not immediately filing a case after an Austrian national complained that his handbag was stolen at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).

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GRP officials said that there was a communication gap between the victim, Michael Brunner, and GRP officials and that a First Information Report (FIR) was registered soon after the complainant approached them.

Brummer had come to CST on Wednesday to board the Mandovi Express for Goa. When he was placing the luggage under his seat, he noticed that his handbag containing passports and cash, which he had kept on the top berth, had gone missing.

In his complaint to the GRP, Brunner said that he spotted some men in uniform outside the train and sought their help. He claimed that they did not pay heed. After he alerted a friend in South Mumbai, they approached the GRP, who took cognisance of the matter.

"After the victim came to us and submitted a written application that the bag was lost, we lodged a complaint accordingly," said Shivaji Shinde, GRP senior inspector at CST. "After we conducted a preliminary probe, we found out that the bag was technically stolen, not lost, and registered an FIR in this regard."

GRP officials also claimed that the men in uniform that Brunner spotted at the station were not GRP personnel, as the chunk of its staff is out on election duty. "We did not have any policemen deployed at the said platform, Shinde said.

The GRP commissioner has asked the deputy commissioner of police to look into the incident to ascertain if the GRP at CST were guilty of negligence.

"An FIR was registered the same evening in connection with the incident. There was communication gap since the complainant was speaking in English," said Dr Ravinder Singal, GRP commissioner.

He added: "The incident is being looked into to find out if the officials took undue time to register an FIR. We will also try to communicate with the complainant and ask him to come to record his statement if he has any complaints with the way the matter was handled."