Shunted from one police station to another, later lodged at Apna Ghar
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: After a day’s work of rag picking, this minor boy hailing from Karnataka was as usual taking rest in one of the spare coaches at the Margao Railway Station on Saturday morning.
Little did he realise when he was detained by the Railway Protection Force (RFP) that he would have to soon undergo an ordeal of being shunted from one police station to another as police officials battled over the question of jurisdiction on taking possession of the child.
Detained at around 11 am, the minor was finally lodged at the Apna Ghar at around 4 pm ~ 5 hours after he was shunted from the Railway Police to the Konkan Railway Police Station and then to Margao Police Station and back to the Konkan Railway Police Station.
The incident occurred at around 11 am when Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel spotted the 15-year-old minor sleeping in a spare railway coach at the Margao Railway Station. Upon his interrogation by RFP Police Inspector, Laxman, it was concluded that the minor had run away from home near Bhatkal-Karnataka two months ago, before finally landing at the Margao Railway Station.
Since the boy turned out to be a minor, the RFP dialled the Child Care Helpline, who in turned contacted the Police Control Room for assistance and action. Accordingly, the RPF decided to hand him over to the Konkan Railway Police Station to shift him to Apna Ghar, but RPF PI Laxman says the Konkan Railway Police declined to take possession of the minor. Left with no option, the PCR van took the minor to the Margao police station, which maintained that it has no jurisdiction at the Margao Railway Station, especially after the setting up of the Konkan Railway Police Station. Finally, by the same PCR van, the minor was brought back at the Margao Station, from where he was finally handed over to the Konkan Railway Police at around 3.30 pm, before he was lodged at the Apna Ghar later in the day.
A local child rights NGO, who was closely pursuing the matter since the time the minor was detained by the RPF, questioned the men-in-uniform for shunting the minor from one police station to the other. “Aren’t the police aware of their responsibilities towards minors? It was indeed a sad story that the minor was taken from police station to the other for nearly four-and-half long hours. Are these police officers not sensitised on their attitude towards minors”, a representative of the NGO questioned and demanded that police officials of the three police stations resolve the jurisdiction issue once and for all.
