Mumbai: Railway cargo not being scanned before loading

New parcel scanners catching dust at a major railway junction as they have yet to be installed

The Central and Western Railway authorities have failed to install baggage scanners on some of the major railway stations despite the Government Railway Police (GRP) writing a series of letters expressing concern over security and lapses in the existing system.

A senior GRP official source said, "The mail express trains that carry parcels face no scrutiny at some of the major junctions where they arrive and that has caused a major security concern. We have written letters to both Central and Western Railway authorities but they seem to have turned a blind eye."

GRP officials claim that they sent dummy parcels which reached their destination without any security concerns being raised. "We felt that not scanning parcels is a security concern and hence we sent a dummy parcel to a location. We had deliberately hidden wires in flour and the parcel remained unchecked by the railway staff. The receiver's identity was also not checked by the railway staff," the officer added.

The GRP had written a letter to the general manager of Central and Western Railway, a copy of which was obtained by mid-day. "It has repeatedly been pointed out by the GRP Maharashtra, that the system currently in place for transportation of parcels by the railways does not have any checks, counter checks and screening for ensuring that suspicious and dangerous materials are not transported through the railway system. A detailed report on the serious lapses found will be sent upon completion of the police investigation. However, prima facie, we find serious flaws in the outsourced mechanism that the railways have put in place for accepting parcels for transport. There is no screening of the parcels at any point before these are loaded in trains," the letter reads.

The letter has been stamped as received by the Central and Western Railway general manager's office of Central and Western railways on March 28.

Sources from GRP stated that the letter was sent following a fire incident in the luggage compartment of Godan Express on March 24. "Upon investigation, we found that the parcel contained batteries which are a prohibited item and the case was then transferred to the Nashik GRP," the officer said.

On April 16, the CSMT GRP carried out random testing of the parcel and found that it contained R60 lakh in cash. "During the investigation, we found that the official documents of the parcel claimed that the parcel was supposed to carry clothing materials. However it had cash," said a GRP official.

When mid-day approached the Central Railway spokesperson he said that they are in the process of installing the scanners. "We have placed orders for the scanners and are in the process of installing them," he told mid-day.

mid-day found three parcel scanners catching dust in an open storage area at a major junction. "We are in the process of installing these scanners," said a senior Central Railway official.

Meanwhile, an official from Western Railway, despite being shown a copy of the letter, insisted that it was written only to Central Railway authorities. "You should have done your homework properly before approaching us. The letter has been written to the Central Railway," said an official from the public relations department of Western Railway.

However, Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Sumit Thakur acknowledged that the letter had been received. "We are in the process of providing scanners at stations," he told mid-day.

March 24
Day fire was reported due to batteries in parcel