To make the Bomb Detection Squad (BDS) of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) more effective, a high-level committee of the force has recommended that only trained personnel form part of the squad.
Aware of the key role played by the BDS in emergency situations, the committee has made it clear that the personnel should not be utilised for any other duty.
The committee was constituted on the instruction of the Inspector General-cum-Chief Security Commissioner, RPF Southern Railway, to review the functioning of the BDS units in the Southern Railway zone. The panel, comprising the Additional Chief Security Commissioner, the Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Chennai, and the Divisional Security Commissioner, Palakkad, made recommendations in March on manpower strength, duties and the working pattern of the BDS. The recommendations have been circulated to various divisions of the RPF in Southern Railway, railway sources here told The Hindu .
Foremost among the recommendations was that the BDS consist only of trained personnel adept at handling and maintaining equipment used in anti-sabotage operations. The committee also made it clear that the role of BDS personnel was only to detect explosive substances and not to dispose of them. The disposal had to be done by the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of the State police.
The committee said the BDS should be constituted in stations where the Integrated Security Scheme was being implemented. The BDS should function round the clock on three shifts, and its personnel should be sent for specialised courses as well as refresher programmes from time to time to enhance their skills.
The sources said the BDS units were now functioning in the Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram Divisions, besides Coimbatore.
The strength of the BDS in Tiruchi would come down to 11 from the existing 15. Those who were not trained would be taken out as per the committee’s recommendations. Instead, those who were trained in handling and maintaining anti-sabotage equipment and serving in different locations in the division would be attached to the BDS.
