Maharashtra leads in crimes on railways, UP comes second

Mumbai: Maharashtra has the highest crime rate on railways in 2019 as per the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The state recorded 45% of the total railway crimes in the country last year.

Maharashtra railways registered over 45,300 FIRs in 2019, out of which 91% were of thefts. The list is next topped by Uttar Pradesh having 8,570 cases. However, if the mid-year projected population is considered, then UP ranks first on the crime charts, while Maharashtra came second. Maharashtra Government Railway Police (GRP) in the state cited that the number of offences is high as they do not turn away a single complainant.

Maharashtra Railway Police have registered theft cases regardless of whether a passenger has lost or forgotten his/her valuables in trains. This is the primary reason why FIRs of theft are so high. The criminals have easy access to railway premises and to prevent that steps are to be taken. During lockdown as well, despite fewer services and passengers being less in numbers crimes were reported. Access control, hi-tech surveillance, more visible policing and better coordination between security agencies—GRP and RPF—is the need of the hour. Meanwhile, the crimes on railways in Maharashtra have reduced by 13% in 2019 compared to the previous year.

Commissioner of railway police, Ravindra Sengaokar said, “Cellphone thefts are recorded the most in Mumbai. Densely crowded local trains pose a challenge in prevention. Often, the stolen phones are dismantled and the spare parts immediately sold off. In some instances even if the phone location is tracked down, recovering the handset isn’t easy as it could have crossed the national border. The Mumbai GRP has a 15% theft detection rate and during lockdown alone, we traced 700 stolen phones”.

Maharashtra leads in the number of robberies (1,666). Mumbai GRP has a robbery detection rate of more than 90%. It also has maximum cases of cheating on the railways (215), kidnappings (54), and POCSO Act cases (20). Officers said kidnapping cases largely pertained to instances of runaway minors. Railway stations are often the last location where runaway teens are spotted on CCTV cameras.