Serious Security Lapse in Guwahati Railway Station!

GUWAHATI: The security apparatus put in place in Guwahati Railway Station is slowly ‘lapsing into unconsciousness’. An explosion took place in the Rangia-Dekargaon Intercity Express train at Harisinga in Udalguri district recently. The explosion took place inside one of the coaches. How and where the explosive device was planted inside the train is a matter of concern. However, even after such an incident, there has been no change in the security setup in the Guwahati Railway Station.

On Wednesday (December 5, 2018) none of the 16 CCTV cameras installed in the station under the GRP is functioning. Sources in the RPF, on the other hand, claimed that its 24 CCTV cameras installed in the railway station were functional on Wednesday. A source in the RPF said that the CCTV get damaged frequently because of high voltage when generators are used in the event of power failure.

Meanwhile, the luggage scanner of NF Railway that was installed in the station has been dysfunctional for about two years. In fact, the scanner has been removed from there. Thus, the situation is such that there is no compulsory scanning of luggage entering the platforms of the railway station. Security personnel, however, search people sometimes when they cast doubt. Though door-frame metal detectors have been fitted in the railway station, yet all of them were found switched off on Wednesday.

Talking to The Sentinel, NF Railway PRO Nripen Bhattacharya said: “The basic difference between the security setups of a railway station and an airport is – while the former has a number of entries and exits, the latter has only one. Guwahati Railway Station has seven entry/exit points. We’ve beefed up station security after the explosion at Harisingha. RPF personnel in their civvies have also been deployed. Whenever any suspicious people are detected, they are interrogated. We’ve also appealed to the general public to inform RPF or GRP personnel as and when they detect any suspicious people or luggage. Night security in trains has also been tightened.”