At New Delhi railway station, security riddled with holes

Over 250 trains arrive at New Delhi railway station everyday and the average footfall is close to five lakh. But even as the biggest railway station in the capital vies to get the “world-class” tag, its security apparatus is nothing more than a sham.

While officials have time and again claimed that the station security is foolproof and advanced gadgets help ensure passenger safety, a visit by Times City unravelled several loopholes that have gone unchecked.

The 16 platforms are manned by just 52 CCTV cameras and at least 10 of these are non-functional, a senior police officer said under the condition of anonymity. The central monitoring office is deserted with no official scanning through the CCTV camera recordings. Fifteen of the cameras showed no display on the monitor.

‘‘From inadequate security staff, unmanned entry/exit points and overworked sniffer dogs to non-functioning CCTVs, the list of constraints is unending. The situation at other stations is no better,’’ said a senior police officer.
Railway officials had claimed that once the new station building was in place, “every move you make inside the station will be monitored by CCTVs”.

However, as recently as February 11 this year, the body of a 22-year-old woman was dumped at the railway station entrance and the autorickshaw in which the bag was brought is yet to be traced.

Railway sources claimed that despite installing door-frame and handheld metal detectors, along with baggage scanners, at the station entrances, people walk in without any fear of being frisked. TOI found that while most people chose to ignore the baggage scanners, security staff posted at entrances appeared equally indifferent.

“The scanners are manned by only constable-level personnel even though they are supposed to be supervised by head constables or their seniors. The 30-odd upper subordinate officers, including sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors, are often deployed on VIP duty. The unmanned entrances can prove dangerous as any terrorist can get in,” claimed a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named.

Security guards can be seen carrying out selective checking of luggage. ‘‘We have only 210 Railway Protection Force personnel at New Delhi station along with 12 sniffer dogs for the entire Delhi division. It is impossible to check each person,’’ said an RPF official.

Despite promises, metal detectors are yet to be upgraded to the standard of explosive detectors. ‘‘The hand-held and metal detectors cannot detect an explosive like RDX,” admitted a senior police officer.

Perhaps the most vulnerable spot is the parcel office. ‘‘In the eventuality of explosive-laden parcels there is no contingency plan,’’ said an official. The middlemen, who facilitate parcel delivery, say that there is no checking and scanning of parcels. “We handle illegal parcels everyday. We can ensure that your parcel is sent across,” said one of them.