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On the Indian railways website, you get to see the mug shots of some of these operators -there is even a woman in the lot -and also learn about their modus operandi. One of them, for example, talks about how he befriended three fellow passengers and bought from the railway pantry car for all of them, banana flavoured milk. Before reaching their berth however, he had laced the drink with the drug and replaced the seal. Needless to say that the three passengers were looted. In response to a query by the investigating officers, some of the gang members said this was an easy job! (the statement speaks volumes about the security provided by the railways!) It's no wonder that such gangs are on the increase and so also the theft of passengers' belongings. As per the railway statistics the cases of 'drugging' registered under the Indian Penal Code on trains as well as on the platform (more on the trains) went up from 509 in 2005 to 800 in 2011 (figures for 2012 and 13 have not been put out ) What is even more worrying about these 'drugging gangs' is their deployment of anaesthetics and sedatives. Used in excess, these drugs could have disastrous consequences. Only last year, the apex consumer court directed the railways to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to the wife of a passenger who had died of excessive drugging (Nitrazepam) by one such 'drugging gang', which had looted him (Nirmala Devi Chopra vs Union of India, RP No 72 of 2001) on a Delhi -bound train in 1998. If you think that all this is alarming, the rising graph of theft of passengers' baggage is even more shocking. From 11,497 such cases in 2008, the number went up to 18037 in 2013. Of equal concern is the sharp increase in the number of robbery cases , from 274 in 2008 to 1096 in 2013. While the passengers are losing their belongings on account of such thefts, the railways is losing too- in a number of such cases, the consumer courts have asked the railways to pay hefty compensation to passengers for the loss of their belongings. And eventually it's the consumer who pays for these payments too in the form of increased fares. The Railway minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, in his maiden budget speech , said the railways would be deploying additional Railway Police Force (RPF) and also augmenting the security helpline, besides providing the RPF escorting teams with mobile phones. These measures will certainly help , but only to a limited extent. Railways need to study the crime patterns more deeply and come up with better solutions to ensure the safety of passengers and their belongings. The Railways have to deploy decoy railway police personnel in large numbers on trains to detect thieves on running trains. The service provider should also ensure seamless communication and coordination between various enforcement agencies involved in crime detection and investigation. They also need to take stringent action against the railway staff that are involved either directly or indirectly in such thefts. The railways should also consider providing an exclusive baggage compartment located in the middle of the train, for safe keeping of baggage on long distance trains for those passengers who get in at the originating station and get off at the terminating station. The railways can even charge a nominal amount for this facility and try it out on long distance Rajdhanis for a start. In short, the Railways need to take stringent steps to bring down the crime graph and secure the safety of passengers and their belongings.
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