After miscreants injure more than 100 passengers, CCTVs along Mumbai train tracks

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, August 27

After more than hundred people were injured after being hit by stones thrown by miscreants from slums alongside Mumbai’s railway tracks, the authorities are moving to install CCTV cameras in stretches considered vulnerable to attacks.

“We have installed CCTVs in the Kurla-Ghatkopar stretch of Central Railway’s Mumbai suburban section. More will be installed if required in other areas,” a CR official said.

According to Railway officials, more than a hundred persons, including a large number of women commuters, have been injured after being hit by stones over the past six years.

Police say the miscreants often lay in wait alongside train tracks and fling their projectiles at commuters standing near the doors of trains.

“Many commuters have received injuries on their face and some have even lost their eyesight following stone pelting,” informs Government Railway Police Commissioner Ravindra Shengaonkar.

He adds that at least 20 persons suspected of throwing stones at passing trains have been arrested in the past few years.

Charges of causing grievous injuries and attempts to murder are now being registered against the stone pelters, he said.

According to information provided by the Railways to an activist under the Right to Information Act, 113 commuters were injured in stone pelting between 2013 and 2019.

Many of them suffered head injuries while some commuters have even fallen off crowded trains after being hit by stones, according to police officials.

Mumbai trains run packed especially during peak hours and the doors are left open lest commuters suffocated inside the coaches.

Police say the miscreants who have been caught throwing stones at trains have turned out to be drug addicts or mentally unstable persons.