No clue of molester aboard Vashi local, cops tell high court

More than two-and-half months after a 25-year-old Nerul resident was molested on a suburban train along the Thane-Vashi route, the Vashi railway police are yet to ascertain his identity.

More than two-and-half months after a 25-year-old Nerul resident was molested on a suburban train along the Thane-Vashi route, the Vashi railway police are yet to ascertain his identity.

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Ramesh Bhosale, senior police inspector of Vashi railway police station on Monday filed an affidavit before the Bombay high court stating a sketch of the accused has been prepared, and its copies have been distributed to all police stations across Navi Mumbai and Panvel.

According to Bhosale’s affidavit, the railway police have interrogated 75 suspects and have also checked BPOs and call centers across Navi Mumbai as they suspect the culprit could be working in one of them.

The police have also scanned the footage from CCTV cameras fitted at Juinagar and other stations on the suburban network, but to no avail, the affidavit says.

The Bombay high court has taken notice of Hindustan Times reports highlighting the plight of women commuters, including that of the 25-year-old Nerul resident, converting the reports into suo motu public interest litigation.

At Thane, she approached the government railway police for help. But instead of acting on her complaint, a newly recruited constable, S G Rathod, refused to register it after noting that she was “only molested”, and not “robbed or raped?” The Vashi railway police station eventually registered an FIR two days later.

Meanwhile, the Railway Protection Force has started a recruitment drive to fill up 1,198 vacant posts in its Central Railway division. Counsel for the Central government, Beni Chatterji, informed the court on Wednesday that an advertisement has already been released and the recruitment will be completed soon.