Increasing number of those killed in accidents at unmanned level crossings and railway tracks are going unidentified, according to senior Railway Police officers.
“Identification of bodies on railway tracks is increasingly becoming difficult, as there is little evidence left by the time the railway police reach the spot,” said a senior officer.
Delay
According to the current procedure, the key man or line man supervising the railway tracks informs the Station Master of accidental deaths, and the latter alerts senior railway officials. By the time the communication reaches the Railway Police, it is too late.
There are instances where rag pickers and urchins make away with valuables found on bodies, leaving little scope for identifying them, say Railway Police.
The number of deaths recorded under Section 174 of the Cr.PC in 2014 was 260, but over 80 per cent bodies remain unidentified, police say.
“We have proposed to the railway authorities to put up charts displaying the number of GRP men in the rooms given to key men or at level crossing gates. We have also asked the Railway Police to be in touch with key men and reach the spot as soon as possible,” said Vijaya Paul, Deputy Superintendent of Police, GRP, Guntur.
The GRP, Guntur is also making use of social media platforms like Facebook to post information about unidentified bodies, he added.
Theft on trains
The GRP is also making efforts to tackle the rising cases of theft on running trains that have dented the image of the railways.
In 2014, the GRP registered 119 cases of theft with a loss of property worth Rs. 46.03 lakh.
But, the rate of detection has been abysmally low, prompting the GRP to adapt novel strategies to nab offenders.
The GRP, is however, bogged by lack of sufficient man power and logistical support.
Headed by a DSP, the unit has been allotted three Circle Inspectors, but two posts are lying vacant.
Out of the seven Sub-Inspectors allotted for Guntur, five posts remain vacant, and just 32 head constable posts out of 68 openings have been filled.
