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Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Saturday, Sep 08, 2007 ePaper |
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Tamil Nadu
Incidents of strangers managing to get near VIPs at railway station is causing concern to the police, writes S. Vijay Kumar
First it was the case of an ‘unidentified’ man rushing towards Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin with a dagger at the Madurai railway station a few months ago. A security guard reportedly intercepted him and sustained a bleeding injury on his hand. In the melee that followed, the “intruder” escaped. The CB-CID that is investigating the case is yet to achieve a breakthrough. More recently, a young woman boarded the car of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko at the VIP parking lot in the railway station. While party cadres forced her out of the car, the railway police took custody of the “mentally unstable” woman who was in possession of a lethal weapon in her bag. Investigations revealed that the woman, I. Bhagya Selvi of Nazareth in Tuticorin district, had also made an attempt to meet former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at her residence in Chennai a few weeks back. However, security personnel prevented her from entering as she did not have an appointment, police sources said. In search of job
“She was desperately looking for a job. We found a handwritten application for a job in a private hospital in her bag. It appears that she might have attempted to meet VIPs to seek their help in this regard,” said the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Railway Police, P. Manoharan. Reasons apart, what worries the police is the fact that intruders not only gained entry into railway station with weapons but also managed to get into close proximity with VVIPs who are covered by various scales of security. Senior police officials admit that when VIPs travel by train, there are many vulnerable areas that are hardly covered by the police. While adequate security is arranged at the originating/destination points, wayside stations are hardly monitored by the police unless the VIP is covered by ‘Z-Plus’ security or more. Moreover, there are many unscheduled stops and caution orders (speed restrictions) that either stop or slow down trains. Even at the railway station, there are many entry/exit points that are not checked by security guards. “We do not have screening machines as in the airports to check baggage. It only requires a reserved ticket in some name to board a train. Attempts to cause sabotage cannot be ruled out as the security system, when it comes to VIPs on trains, is not foolproof. Easy access
In all the express trains, upper-class coaches are accessible through the vestibules,” another police official said. Sleuths of the Railway Police and Railway Protection Force are of the view that surveillance cameras, baggage screening machines (introduced in Chennai Central railway station last week) and well-trained sniffer dogs can help in keeping mischief-mongers at bay.
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