RPF apprehends culprits involved in crimes under ‘Yatri Suraksha’ initiative

Surat : The Western Railway’s (WR) Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel are always at the forefront to protect and secure the lives of passengers. Under Operation Yatri Suraksha, RPF has effectively contributed in tackling the incidences of theft of passenger belongings with their alertness & vigilance.

In this direction, the RPF have detected & apprehended the culprits in almost 120 such cases with the help of CCTV surveillance cameras, in the first two months of the year 2023.

According to a press release issued by Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, RPF has made a special effort in containing the menace of theft of passenger belongings. Giving impetus to Operation Yatri Suraksha, Western Railway has installed 3802 CCTV cameras including 488 cameras with inbuilt Facial Recognition System (FRS) which contains details of criminals along with their photos which are uploaded in the system to curb crimes against passengers. In the months of January & February 2023, WR’s RPF has detected 120 cases of crime against passengers with the help of CCTV cameras.

Citing some recent cases, Thakur informed that recently the Crime Prevention and Detection Squad (CPDS) team of Borivali Post observed a suspicious person at Kandivali station while monitoring through CCTV footages & apprehended him. During interrogation, the suspect named Suresh Ghanshyam Prajapati, aged 26 years disclosed his involvement in seven different theft cases.

The theft incidents had occurred on different dates at Borivali, Kandivali and Dahisar stations. After legal formalities, the accused was handed over to GRP/Borivali for further legal action. The accused had stolen mobiles worth Rs. 1.38 lakhs. Seven theft cases have been lodged against him under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code.

In yet another incident, the CPDS team of RPF post at Ahmedabad apprehended one suspect from PF No. 1 of Ahmedabad station. A stolen mobile and cash worth Rs. 3000/- was recovered from his possession. During the interrogation, the suspect disclosed his name a Javed, aged 28 years. The accused also disclosed the names of his other accomplices and the hotel location where they were residing.

He admitted that they worked as a gang and stole belongings of passengers like purse, suitcase, mobile phones, laptops, etc from railway premises. After the legal formalities, the suspect was handed over to GRP/Ahmedabad for further legal action. Thereafter, a joint team of RPF & GRP conducted a raid at the hotel and apprehended the other five suspects. The team also recovered 35 stolen mobile phones of passengers worth approx. Rs. 8 lakhs alongwith cash amounting to over Rs. 11,000/- from their possession. GRP/ Ahmedabad has registered cases against all the six accused under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code.

Thakur further stated that the vigilant & alert RPF officials have nabbed the culprits in several such passenger-related crimes like theft & robbery and helped to retrieve the passenger’s belongings such as mobile phones, bags containing cash, valuables & important documents, wallets, etc. These anti-social elements involved are then handed over to GRP for further legal action.