Security not on track in Chennai

Security not on track in Chennai

Following last month’s incident of a female software engineer being pushed from a train, the Government Railway Police are going all out to enhance security arrangements at suburban stations

Chennai (MAS): In a bid to enhance security at suburban railway stations from Beach to Tambaram, the Government Railway police (GRP) has posted two constables at each station manning them till midnight every day.

This comes in the wake of last month’s incident of a woman software engineer being pushed out of the ladies’ compartment of a moving train by an as yet unidentified man.

The incident occurred on the night of December 29 near Fort railway station. The victim, Muneeshwari Nagaraj (28) of Arumbakkam, fell beside the tracks and miraculously survived with a broken left arm. A computer-generated image of the suspect is now being circulated and a hunt has been launched for him.

Speaking on the case and the state of security at suburban railway stations, Seema Agarwal, inspector general of police, GRP, said that additional police personnel have been posted at all railway stations from 4 a.m. to 12 a.m. “We have ensured that a policeman can be reached at the nearest station in case of emergencies in train compartments. Our helpline also remains active,” she added.

The Railway police had earlier posted police personnel in ladies’ compartments, especially during night-time, for the security of female passengers; but, the arrangement was soon withdrawn.

“We have now posted police teams in plain clothes who comb the compartments in a bid to zero in on the suspect who attacked the software engineer, and also to prevent further incidents of this nature,” said deputy superintendant of police, GRP, V. Ponramu.

Five special teams are working on the case and nearly 120 suspects have been questioned till now. CCTV footage obtained from railway stations on the suburban lines are been examined. However, investigators have not been able to get any crucial leads in the case, sources said.