The Railway Protection Force had alerted South Central Railway authorities months ago about the rising crime and safety concerns on trains running on the Delhi-Chennai route, but the railway authorities failed to take any action. The RFP has listed names of trains and certain routes that are seeing a high rate of crimes. The issue assumes greater significance in view of a possible sabotage in the fire accident on the Tamil Nadu Express, as indicated by the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, SCR authorities have not ruled out other possibilities including drugging of passengers and carrying of inflammable material in the New Delhi-Chennai train. As per a report submitted at a high-level coordination meeting of the RPF and Government Railway Police Personnel held by SCR authorities in March this year, the route was identified as one of the routes notorious for theft, drugging of passengers as well as carrying inflammable material.
The RPF authorities had identified the routes to chart out an action plan to address safety concerns. It was found that the Sabari Express, Dakshin Express, Howrah Chennai Mail and trains heading towards Delhi are the most notorious for drugging of passengers. “Trains running towards Delhi and routes like Secunderabad-Trivandrum, Secunderabad-Delhi, Visakhapatnam-Godavari, Guntakal-Mumbai etc. are highly susceptible to crime. Trains heading towards Visakhapatnam and trains running on the Guntakal-Mumbai sector have witnessed the maximum cases of drugging passengers. The issue was discussed during the meeting held in Rail Nilayam in March this year,” said a senior official.