With their successful initiative known as “Operation Amanat,” Western Railway’s Railway Protection Force (RPF) has achieved a critical milestone in improving passenger comfort and security. The RPF has aggressively sought to reunite travelers with their lost goods under the direction of Praveen Chandra Sinha, IG now Principal Chief Security Commissioner of Western Railway.

Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, stated that the RPF has conducted regular drives and operations to facilitate the return of lost items. Between January 2023 and May 2023, the RPF recovered 1,437 cases of luggage with a total estimated worth of about Rs. 3.16 crore. The recovered items total Rs. 3,15,99,576 and comprise 838 bags, 53 purses, 12 laptops, 30 mobile phones, 14 gold chains, and 160 other priceless items. Before returning the stolen items to their respective owners, the RPF made sure that adequate verification was done. On May 24, 2023, the RPF staff of the Mumbai Division successfully reunited 12 separate cases of misplaced luggage across several stations with their owners, totaling about Rs. 1,79,500.

Thakur emphasised that Western Railway’s RPF is still committed to giving passengers a safe and secure travel experience. By using preventive measures and actively looking for crimes against railway property, they take on the responsibility of protecting the massive railway assets located all throughout the nation.

Through their programme known as “Operation Samay Palan,” the RPF has concentrated on stopping illegal instances of Alarm Chain Pulling (ACP) in addition to their efforts to find lost bags. During the fiscal year 2022–2023, the RPF successfully discovered 4,459 examples of illegal ACP by taking harsh punishment against violators under Section 141 of the Railway Act 1989. 

They have detained 4,425 people for engaging in similar behavior and amassed fines totaling Rs. 22,43,465. The RPF organized 1,949 awareness programmes in the impacted areas/sections with the goal of raising passenger awareness in order to promote smooth train operations and reduce ACP instances. 

Their efforts have resulted in a significant 48% increase in the number of miscreants arrested for causing disturbances and a 60% increase in the penalties collected as compared to the previous year.

Source-free press 

Link: https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/western-railways-rpf-achieves-milestone-in-passenger-convenience-security-with-operation-amanat