The High Court here asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Thursday to consider manning exit gates at all stations after some incidents of people going missing from the premises were brought to its attention.
A Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and A. K. Pathak said manning the automatic fare collection (AFC) exit gates was also necessary to ensure security on the metro system. It has also asked the DMRC and the Metro Police to file affidavits containing data about commuters who went missing from metro stations in the last three years.
‘Necessary for security’
“The Delhi Metro should consider the desirability of manning AFC gates at all stations so that children, the differently-abled or vulnerable persons, and those without tickets are checked while exiting. Such measures are also necessary from the point of view of security of the metro system,” the Bench said.
The direction was issued after a habeas corpus matter was initiated by the court, which had come across a news report about a speech and hearing impaired 19-year-old woman going missing from a metro station. The woman had allegedly been separated from her family and exited from the wrong station on April 21.
‘Use social media’
Since she is yet to be traced, the Bench transferred the investigation to the Anti-Human Trafficking unit of the Delhi Police.
The step was taken after Delhi government’s senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra told the Bench that the Metro Police, presently probing the case, didn’t have the manpower to investigate the matter properly. Mr. Mehra, in his status report, also told the court that all efforts, including the use of social media, made till date had failed to yield results. On the last date, the court had said that social media should be used without fail in cases regarding missing persons, and that too immediately.
