Vigil at rly stations in LWE-hit Odisha dists to be beefed up

Security will be beefed up at all the railway stations and tracks in the Left Wing Extremism-affected districts of Odisha and the trains passing through them.

The decision to this effect was taken at the second quarterly meeting of the State-level Security Committee for Railways headed by Odisha DGP B K Sharma.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting here on Tuesday, Sharma said round-the-clock vigil will be in place at the railway stations and the tracks in the LWE-affected areas.

"Special orientation and training for RPF and GRP personnel to deal with Maoist extremism were proposed at the meeting," he said.

ADG (Railway) P B Acharya said the GRP with assistance from the RPF will beef up security at six major railway stations across the state.

"A team comprising GRP and RPF personnel will scrutinise platforms and trains to prevent illegal transportation drugs and nab people looting passengers by offering them food laced with sedatives," he said.

The ADG (Railway) said the RPF personnel were requested to install more CCTV cameras at the railway stations and baggage scanners at the cloakrooms.

DGP Sharma also suggested that the Railway authorities obtain fire safety certificates under the Odisha Fire Prevention and Safety Rules, 2017, he said.

"The Odisha Police and the RPF will launch drives against unregistered vendors at platforms and trains. GRP personnel were asked to verify the antecedents of the labourers working under the private railway contractors to prevent criminal activities at the stations, he said.

RPF has been asked to provide the list of private contractors to the GRP, Acharya said.

Issues such as security of women and children, measures needed to control trafficking and prevent sabotage, disaster management and effective coordination between GRP, RPF and Railway authorities were discussed at the meeting, he added.