GRP registers 156 FIRs in 7 months

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, August 14

As many as 156 rail FIRs have been registered with the Government Railway Police (GRP) in the city in the past seven months.

The GRP police station in Jalandhar city has been getting around 15-20 complaints in a month, which include five to seven cases comprising suicide attempts, natural deaths or accidents in railway areas either due to malfunctioning or personal cause.

Data suggested that railways accidents surged between January 2015 and December last year. While around 300 something cases were reported in 2015, there were 313 cases that occurred in 2016 including both minor and major casualties.

The GRP here not only caters to the casualties being reported from the city but also to those belonging to adjoining towns and villages like Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr. In comparison to the number of cases reported in the past years, the number of cases registered in the last seven months has seen a decline in casualties.

From the 156 cases reported, a majority include minor casualties like getting down from a moving train or trying to catch a running train or slipping off while boarding the train. Many a time, passengers got stuck on the gates of the train and fell due to the huge crowd. On the other hand, the number of suicides attempted in comparison to the earlier times are less.

According to the information procured from the officials, special attention is being given to the fatalities reported. Guards, station masters and other staff related to train operations and police personnel appointed at the stations are given training to prevent such incidents.

Moreover, inspection of all manned or unmanned level crossings is being carried out by officials concerned in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations.

As per the GRP staff, timely seminars and workshops are being conducted to make the youth realise the importance of safety. Students are given lectures about the suicide attempts and urged not to take such action under any circumstances.

Social awareness camps are being organised by the police department and the NGOs to guide the citizens about security and safety. They are taught about the preventive measures one should adopt when one gets into an awkward situation, an officer added.