Central railway to put local train bullies on right track

Mumbai: Bullies beware! Central Railway (CR) is all set to crack the whip on incidents of bullying in local trains. It has earmarked an anti-bully drive in trains this month, in order to pull up ‘gangs’ of commuters who travel together and torment travellers by stopping them from either boarding or alighting from a train during peak hours. They feel that commuters travelling from suburbs like Thane/Kalyan to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) should not board fast trains from stations like Ambernath and try to obstruct them. To tackle this, the Railway Police Force (RPF) officers will be travelling in trains in plain clothes and co-ordinate with their colleagues, who will be stationed at Dadar, Kurla and CST stations to nab the gang.

The RPF also plans to use technology to its advantage and has instructed its officers to capture instances of bullying on video when they are off-duty so that a trap can be laid for the perpetrators at a later date. CR senior divisional security commissioner, Sachin Bhalode said, “We have been trying to use technology in these drives.

We did so in the case of rooftop travelling, and will now use the same to curb bullying by gangs consisting of some unruly commuters.” He further added, “A video recording will also help us trace these people if we can’t get to them at that very instant.”

All commuters on Mumbai’s suburban trains have experienced this at some point of time or the other, when they have not been allowed to get into or alight from trains at particular stations. In fact, it is a well-known fact that these gangs often close the doors of the trains at vital stations like Kalyan, Thane, Dombivali, so as to obstruct commuters from getting in if they feel the train is already too crowded.

One such commuter, Hiral Mehta, had a harrowing experience recently while travelling from Dombivali to Kurla. A group of woman, who were already peeved at her for boarding the train, refused to open the door at Kurla station and told her to travel all the way to Dadar, as most of them would be getting down there. “I told them that I had to go to Chembur, but they just refused. They knew that if they managed to hold me until the train left Kurla, I would have no other option but to get off at Dadar.” She further added, “These woman were sitting near the door and three of them got up and ensured the door remained shut. It was very intimating, and I think they derive some kind of a sadistic pleasure from this.”

Penalty for bullies

If caught bullying, culprits will be fined Rs 500 by the RPF.
Depending on the case, the culprit could also be presented before a railway magistrate.

Stations infamous for bullying:

• Badlapur
• Thakurli
• Ambernath
• Kalyan
• Dombivali.