200 Women Cops to add muscle to Shakti Squad

200 Women Cops to add muscle to Shakti Squad

Mumbai: The Railway Police Force (RPF) of the Central Railway (CR) will add another 200 woman constables to its Shakti squad giving a fillip to the security of women in Mumbai locals.

The CR sees at least 45-lakh commuters everyday, of which one-fourth are estimated to be women. Five new groups comprising six to seven women constables will be added to the existing squad.

Besides, another company, consisting of 100 women constables will be added to the total strength of the RPF. The 100-woman constables company has currently been sent to Nashik for security at the Kumbh Mela. They were recruited as part of the 1,450 acquired by the Railways in the country, out of which, 800 have been sent to Mumbai. They will be stationed at various railway stations throughout the city.

“This will give us a major advantage by increasing the presence of women constables at stations. This will help us to deploy more women cops at stations known to have dense traffic such as CST, Dadar, Thane and Kalyan,” he said.The RPF is also trying to the curb the number of chain-snatching incidents on railway stations. “We are trying to curb chain-snatching incidents by asking these constables to be present in ladies compartment during early morning or late night,” said the official.