Taking note of the suspicious object found at the Pune railway station, and a bid to enhance the security arrangements, the Pune railway division has now decided to deploy additional security personnel in and around the station premises.This would be the first time that private contract security guards are being hired to man the Pune railway station premises.
Apart from the existing Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) which are inadequate for vigilance, now, the railways will hire contract-based security guards.
“It is a serious issue and the security of passengers travelling through the Pune railway station is of utmost importance to us. There are RPF and GRP policemen doing their duties round the clock, also the CCTV cameras are installed and other security arrangements are in place, but the station premises are huge and need 24X7 vigilance. For that, we need additional manpower. We will soon be hiring private security guards on a contract basis. This is the first time we are taking such an initiative,” said Renu Sharma, divisional railway manager (DRM) of Pune railway division.
On May 13 a suspicious object, which resembled a bomb was found at the Pune railway station, after which the circulating area near platform no. 1 was sealed by the police and bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) came to the spot, after inspection they took away the object from the station premises and disposed it off.
Currently there is an RPF police station near the parcel office of the station. The duties of the RPF policemen include security checking, patrolling, crime control and keeping vigilance on suspicious movements at the station in shifts. Similarly, the GRP police station is based outside the station premises and the officials look at the security and vigilance in and around the station premises.
“We are taking a review of all the station premises, its entry and exit points and the areas where unnecessary people roam. By increasing the security staff, such vulnerable spots will be covered and even the crime control or incidents like having suspicious objects found at the station premises will also hopefully decrease,” added Sharma.
