CHENNAI: To ensure that police personnel in trains remain vigilant during night journey, the Government Railway Police (GRP) has launched an e-beat system to monitor their movement on a real-time basis. The initiative was taken after repeated complaints that police are not seen in coaches during night travel.
The e-beat system was recently launched in four trains — Nilgiri, Cheran, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad Express — operated from the MGR Chennai Central Railway Station. Incidentally, these trains are operated in the Chennai-Jolarpettai-Salem section, where robbers have struck at night over the past few years.
Though the railway police apprehended a few persons, the Katpadi-Salem section remains vulnerable due to its close proximity to border States.
“Under the new system, QR electronic code cards are pasted at three to four locations in the train. An on-board constable has to scan the code at regular intervals. The time of visit will get recorded in the application installed in his phone and will be transferred to the control room server,” V Balakrishnan, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Railways, told Express. “The constable has to scan it at least three to four time per shift. This will ensure that police cover all compartments throughout the journey. Based on the success, we will to adopt the system in all trains.”
According to sources, two personnel — either from the RPF or from railway police — are deployed for patrolling in all night trains.