HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 29: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) apprehended 173 touts and 437 persons for stealing belongings of passengers during the period of 2023-24.
The RPF regularly conducts drives to control the menace of touts. In recently conducted checks and drives over the zone from April 23, RPF apprehended two touts and recovered railway tickets worth above Rs. 17,000 from them. During this period one person involved in theft of passenger belongingswas also apprehended.
Wherever required, raids were conducted in coordination with the Government Railway Police (GRP) and personnel of local police stations. 1179 tickets worth Rs. 22.81 lakhs (approx) were recovered during drives and raids. All the persons apprehended for being involved in theft were prosecuted under the relevant section of the Railways Act.
On April 24, the RPF team of Dalkhola conducted a raid and search operation at ‘Mukhlesh Travels Service’ located at Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal. During the raid the team recovered five e-tickets, worth around Rs. 13,820 and apprehended one tout in this connection. A case was registered under section 143 of the Railways Act at Dalkhola post for further course of action.
In another drive conducted on April 24, the RPF team of Alipurduar apprehended one tout and recovered one railway ticket worth around Rs. 3,440. A case was registered at RPF post/New Coochbehar under section 143 of the Railways Act for further course of action.
On April 25, the RPF team of Katihar jointly with GRP team of Katihar conducted a check at the Katihar Railway Station and apprehended one person and recovered one stolenmobile phone from his possession. Later, the accused along with the mobile was handed over to the respective In-charge of GRP for further legal actions.
Apart from keeping a close vigil of unauthorized and illegal procurement of railway tickets, the RPF of NFR is always ready to provide services and assistance to the rail users besides their task of ensuring security to the passengers. The NFR authority has requested all passengers to undertake their journey with proper tickets only to avoid problems during train travel. Railway passengers can dial 139 (Toll-free) if they come across any problem during their journey.
