Rs 5.75-crore train heist revives debate over railways security

NEW DELHI: Monday’s daring train heist near Salem in Tamil Nadu has revived the debate in official circles on the question of providing for a single security force

NEW DELHI: Monday’s daring train heist near Salem in Tamil Nadu has revived the debate in official circles on the question of providing for a single security force for the railways.

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Contrary to most railways of the world, including those in the United Kingdom, United States and China, rail safety in India has continued to be jointly managed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

The theft of ` 5.78 crore by robbers who cut through the roof of a train carrying bank money from Salem to Chennai on Tuesday sheds light on strategies employed routinely by criminal gangs in the first three decades after the country’s Independence, when the Railways was the major transporter for goods.

Rail crimes have been “passenger centric” in recent years. In March last year, Madhya Pradesh finance minister Jayant Malaiya and his wife Sudha were robbed off cash and jewellery on the Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Express. Earlier, 50 gangsters stormed into the AC compartment of the Lal Quila Express near Bhadui in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district and looted passengers. In April 2012, passengers on the Delhi-Bhubanesh war Sampark Kranti Express were similarly looted off their belongings.

“Trends in rail crimes have changed but not decreased. Unless the root issue of dual responsibilities between the RPF and GRP is addressed, substantial improvements in controlling crimes are unlikely,” a ministry official said.

Last year, railways minister Suresh Prabhu sought a response from state chief ministers on empowering the RPF but many opposed the move.