Government Railway Police (GRP) squads with the support of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) have intensified surprise inspections in local and long-distance trains on noticing an increase in the number of incidents of unaccounted money carriers and gold smugglers using the rail network for illegal trade.
As an additional measure, plainclothesmen will be deployed around railway stations to track suspected persons and instantly check suspicious baggages.
Patrol squads have been asked to board trains from different stations and increase the frequency of surprise inspections. Special squads will be formed to coordinate simultaneous checking. Support of regular passengers too is likely to be sought for tracking suspicious persons and consignments.
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Though baggage screening facilities were recommended for the Kozhikode railway station as part of efforts to improve checking, it is yet to be a reality thanks to technical issues and shortage of required screening personnel.
Similar is the case with screening facilities at the parcel counter. As of now, only door frame metal detectors are functional at the Kozhikode railway station, and they are hardly enough to ensure flawless screening.
GRP officials said the tightened vigil in the sector had helped them nab a Maharashtra native with unaccounted money to the tune of ₹24 lakh. The man who was arrested on Thursday was travelling on Parasuram Express, and he reportedly wanted to exchange money with a gold merchant in the Kozhikode rural area, they added.
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According to police sources, the rail network is being exploited more by illegal money carriers as their on-road operations have already been shut by the 24x7 highway patrol squads. The heightened vigil and joint operation by various enforcement agencies will soon end this trend too, they said.
Last year, a special drive named Operation Visudhi launched by the Excise Department had cracked down on a network of liquor smugglers who misused the railway network for illegal trade. The drive had resulted in the seizure of a number of ‘deserted consignments’ with huge quantities of Indian Made Foreign Liquor smuggled from Goa and Mahe. Suppliers of banned tobacco products too had been exposed during the drive.
Excise Department officials said the drive had also drawn the support of RPF squads. During a surprise inspection, the joint squad could even detain a Kochi-based gang suspected of having key roles in hawala money transfers across the State, they added.