If a criminal wants to make good his escape from Goa, thenMargao railway station is the easiest route to freedom.
Lack of proper security apparatus and a lax security staffmakes the station even more vulnerable for suspects to get away.
With over 10,000 people preferring to use train as a mode oftransport on a daily basis, for any criminal suspect Margao railway station isthe best choice to mingle with the crowd and disappear.
“Since Margao railway station is a major junction in the statealmost 10,000 passengers commute from the station on a daily basis during theseason,” said Baban Ghate, Senior Railways Manager. “We have taken enoughsecurity measures like CCTV cameras, baggage scanners and metal detectors,” headded.
But in reality, the CCTV appears to be a mere formality, asthere is no enough personnel to monitor the footage. Security officers rely onthe CCTV footage only when an untoward incident is reported. By then thecriminal may have already made good his escape.
The Railway Protection Force headed by Sub-InspectorAnjanappa admits that his department lacks almost 13 personnel and thereforecannot depute staff on a full time basis to monitor CCTV footage.
“The biggest problem at the Margao railway station is thehuge commuting crowd. We are always on the lookout for convicts and suspects.We look out for passengers with minimal baggage, ticketless travel and peopletravelling in large groups. We also continuously carry out random checks,” saidVincy Pais. “The idea is to see that the railway station is not misutilized bycriminals. We recently nabbed two convicts who had fled jail few years back,”Pais added.
A body of an unidentified person in a decomposed conditionwas found in one of the unclaimed parcels at Margao railway station in December2008. But it appears that KRC has still not learnt from their past mistakes.Till date there’s no mechanism in place to screen parcels.
Similarly the KRC had installed a baggage scanner with muchpomp in 2011 asserting that it will boost security measures. But the scanner isunmanned and the Konkan Railway police are always on a tea break.
