Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

GHOST patrolling in buses soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 10 . The police have decided to deploy plainclothesmen and women in public transport buses and bus stops to crack down on eve teasing.

The DIG (Thiruvananthapuram-Range), Arun Kumar Sinha, told that the police personnel would act as decoys to catch `eve-teasers red-handed'. He said the scheme would be implemented in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Kollam districts.

The special drive has been termed `General Hunt Of Sinister Travellers' (GHOST), he said. The GHOST patrols would also keep a vigil for pickpockets, drunken passengers and those who occupy the seats reserved in buses for women, handicapped persons and senior citizens. The DIG said that the Motor Vehicle Rules envisage punishment for passengers who behave in an uncivil manner in buses. Mr. Sinha said the plainclothesmen will also examine whether private buses are over-speeding and if they are observing the time and route schedules.

The police would also keep a tab on the behaviour of private bus staff towards passengers. The police have been getting complaints of `flashers and stalkers' from women commuters. According to police, `flashers' are those who resort to exhibitionism and `stalkers' who obsessively tail individual women.

The police have also noted that eve-teasers move in groups from one bus to another. ``These are mostly youth who chose the rush hours to hustle into a bus at one point and get out at the other without even taking tickets. The private bus staff and women commuters seem to fear them because they operate in an organised manner," another official said. He said that a disturbing trend noted recently was that eve-teasers were targeting school children and minors in whom they seem to have found soft targets. Officials said that in 2003, the Rural police had registered 211 cases of eve teasing. The city police registered a similar number of cases the same year.

The new policing scheme would also keep a tab on mini-vans and buses operating parallel services from the suburban areas to the city. There is also a police move to `discipline' lawbreakers among autorickshaw drivers. According to the police, overcharging of passengers and tampering of fare meters have been a general complaint from the public against auto drivers. The police would be seeking the services of the Legal Metrology Department to conduct surprise checks in the districts to book auto drivers who use tampered meters or overcharge their customers.

According to the police, there are more than 30,000 autorickshaws operating in the city, though the Corporation has given city permit only to less than 5000. "The police will be requesting the Corporation to give more city permits to autorickshaws before beginning a crackdown on those operating in urban areas without permit. There could also be a different paint scheme for autorickshaws with city permit," an official said.

Many unemployed youth work as auto drivers. The vehicle was also the main stay of a large segment of commuters, including women, who do not have cars or two-wheelers.

However, the influx of autorickshaws without city permit is cited as one of the main reasons impeding smooth flow of vehicular traffic in the city. "Due to lack of space at autorickshaw stands, most drivers scour the city at slow speeds during rush hours looking for passengers," an official said.

A senior official said that the police would not allow parking of autos or taxi-cars in areas which are not notified as auto or taxi stands by the Corporation. The same would also apply to bus stops. Stage carriage operators who stop their buses at stops which are not notified would be booked, officials said.

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