Picture this. A commuter is busy talking on the mobile phone, standing on the footboard of a suburban train, which is about to enter a station. A stranger waits on the empty track . The person hits the hand of the commuter with a long stick. The commuter drops his cellphone. Before the train comes to a stop at the station, the stranger flees with the phone. .
This is the modus operandi of thieves who target the cellphones of commuters, at the Vysarpadi railway station. Cases of such burglary are said to have been reported from there.
A team of police personnel from the Government Railway Police (GRP), Perambur division, led by inspector S. Sekar, has geared up to prevent such crimes.
Four GRP policemen with an inspector have been deployed on crime-reported routes such as Washermenpet–Avadi, Basin Bridge–Tiruvallur and Perambur–Pattabiram Military Sidings on a rotational basis every day. Also, a permanent police outpost has been built at the centre of the two platforms in Vysarpadi railway station.
The outpost will be inaugurated on Sunday by P. Vijayakumar, superintendent of police, GRP (Chennai region).
As per plan, each of the four policemen would be travelling in the suburban trains and a team of policemen would be stationed at the outpost acting both as a help desk and a deterrent against anti-socials.
The new outpost at Vysarpadi is the only one found between Basin Bridge and Tiruvallur railway station. Every day, around 20,000 commuters board trains from the railway station in Vysarpadi mainly to reach Chennai Central and Chennai Beach. Petty crimes such as chain snatching, robbery, loss of luggage and cell phone thefts are reported from the station. “Southern Railway helped us by converting the unused ticket booking office into an outpost . The police outpost is mainly aimed at keeping trespassers at bay. Trespassing is said to be high between Vysarpadi and Perambur,” says GRP inspector Sekar.
The Vysarpadi station is one of the oldest railway stations in the country.
The railway station was designed by the British in such a way that it was located at the intersection of all four major rail lines — Chennai Beach, Chennai Central, Korukkupet and Perambur. This was done to de-congest the Chennai Central and for better operations of the long distance train services. The Korukkupet route connects the city with the neighbourhing Andhra Pradesh via Gummudipoondi and Gudur while the Perambur line links Chennai Central with Arakkonam, Jolarpet and beyond. “The railway station in Vysarpadi has poor basic amenities. At least, the new outpost with additional policemen at the station should provide commuters a safe travel,” says G.Vasuki, a commuter from B.B. Road in Perambur.
