CISF helps Metro users retrieve lost valuables

Forgot something valuable while travelling on the Metro rail network? Don't worry, the CISF is there to ensure the retrieval of your belongings if they are not picked up by other commuters.

On an average, 60 to 70 unattended items are recovered at the Delhi Metro stations in a month and 90 percent of them are returned to their owners.

Officers of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said that the passengers mostly forgot their valuables on the Yellow Line - Jehangirpuri-Gurgaon - while Kashmiri Gate and Rajiv Chowk are the stations from where most of the lost items are recovered.

Currently, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has six lines - Red, Blue, Yellow, Violet, Green and Airport Express.

CISF sources told IANS that items left behind are bags with cash, jewellery, foreign currency, cheques or drafts and laptops, while in some cases passengers forgot pouches, cameras, watches, mobiles, tablets, i-Pods and carry bags.

"Most items are left behind at the X-Ray baggage scanning machines and in the other areas in the Metro premises," said a source.

The CISF has recovered Rs.807,212 in cash, cheques for Rs. 192,200, foreign currency of Rs. 12,506,

12 gold ornaments, 64 laptops, 21 cameras, 192 watches, seven tablets and two iPods between January 1 and July 30.

The paramilitary force had recovered Rs.34,65,494 in cash in 2014, Rs.28,29,047 in 2013 and Rs.21,12,310 in 2012.

"Our personnel not only guarantee a safe journey for Metro passengers but also ensure the retrieval of their forgotten valuables in the station premises," a CISF officer, on condition of anonymity, told IANS.

According to the officer, the 140 Metro stations are manned by about 5,000 armed CISF troopers.

He said that the items recovered at Metro stations by CISF personnel are handed over to the officers of Station Control Room (SCR).

"After finding any object, we first check on the threat level. Then the forgotten item is opened in the presence of station controller who takes the article in his control," the officer said.

A Metro official said that the forgotten item is kept in the SCR's custody for a day and is then deposited with DMRC's "Lost and Found" branch at Kashmiri Gate.

"Passengers can contact the station controller and get back their goods after showing their identity cards and explaining the details of their lost article," the Metro official told IANS.

He, however, conceded that lost goods found by people other than CISF personnel might not be retrieved.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)