The Government Railway Police (GRP) have managed to solve only 21 cases of stone pelting that have occurred over the past six-and-a-half years, information procured by activist Shakil Ahmed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act revealed. According to the RTI reply, 113 passengers were injured in a total of 118 stone throwing incidents from 2013 to June 2019.
“One of the key reasons behind the low detection rate is the fact that the GRP is woefully understaffed. Moreover, the investigating officer in GRP is very often not an inspector and hence, the requisite skills required for detection are lacking,” Mr. Ahmed said.
According to information received by Mr. Ahmed, the Thane GRP’s jurisdiction had 35 stone pelting incidents, in which 40 passengers were injured, the highest across all GRP stations under the Mumbai GRP Commissionerate. Other major areas of stone pelting included Kurla, where 11 were injured in 18 incidents, and Kalyan, where 15 were injured in 17 incidents.
Stone pelting saw a spike in 2018, with 27 people being injured in 27 cases, out of which 10 were registered with Thane GRP alone. Only four cases were detected last year, resulting in four arrests. Mr. Ahmed said a long-term solution would be to complete the boundary walls along the tracks.
Drop in cases
Ravindra Sengavkar, Commissioner, GRP Mumbai, said stone pelting incidents had been curbed to a large extent as most major spots had been manned with the help of the Railway Protection Force. “Over the past one month, there have been no stone pelting cases. Even among the ones that occurred this year, most have been detected and the accused are still under arrest,” he said. This year, four people have been arrested out of the 11 cases of stone pelting, out of which three pertained to a series of stone pelting cases between Vidyavihar and Ghatkopar.
Mr. Sengavkar said they had also started charging the accused under Sections 308 and 382 of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to attempt to commit culpable homicide and causing hurt with the intention of committing theft. He said, “Most of the accused have been found to have been either under the influence of alcohol or having mental health issues.”
