Indian Railways Forms Special Teams To Safeguard Passengers' Belongings From Theft

Stolen mobile phones were transported to the Bangladesh border where they were sold illegally. In Bangladesh, the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of these phones were altered to make them untraceable, allowing for their illicit distribution and use, according to railway authorities.

New Delhi: Days after Vishwa Hindu Parishad International President Alok Kumar’s mobile was stolen at Anand Vihar Railway Station, Northern Railway woke up from slumber and swung into action against such cases to curb the menace to protect the passengers’ belongings. It constituted the Special Team of RPF to act in tandem with GRP against the culprits of these cases.

According to Northern Railways, it constituted a Special Team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) to act in tandem with the Government Railway Police (GRP) and apprehend the culprits allegedly involved in these theft cases. According to railways, these stolen mobile phones were transported to the Bangladesh Border then these were used to sell illegally in Bangladesh from where International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers were made untraceable.

“The team apprehended three accused persons from Ghaziabad Station and recovered 128 mobiles from their possession, which had been stolen by them from various trains in the past 15 days,” senior officials of Northern Railways said.

“Important notice, I left Anand Vihar Railway Station at 5.45 am to go to Ayodhya Dham by train No. 22426 Vande Bharat Express. While I was boarding the train, my mobile phone was stolen. I hope Delhi police and Northern Railway Police will find my phone and the culprit soon and take appropriate action,” Alok Kumar, International President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, posted on X.

The cases against these accused have been registered at least two or three times in the past. Efforts were being made to trace the owners of the mobiles and the cases registered at various police stations regarding the thefts. “All the recovered mobile phones were stolen from trains originating from or passing through Delhi when the passengers had kept the mobile phones for charging or were sleeping," the officials stated.

After a detailed analysis of complaints received on the Rail Madad app regarding the theft of passengers’ belongings, Northern Railway constituted a special team in coordination with GRP Ghaziabad to crack down at various black spots at Railway Stations of Delhi and Ghaziabad to curb the menace.