Rly police man 82-km track sans vehicle
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, SEPT 17
As many as six unnatural deaths have occurred along the 82 km-odd railway track of South Western Railways (SWR) between Vasco and Dudhsagar in the last three weeks.
For the Vasco Railway police, it was a gruelling effort as they had to attend to the six unnatural death cases along the long SWR route without vehicles at their disposal.
The Vasco Railway Police, which is expected to cover nearly the entire 82-km railway track, does not even have a motorcycle to attend to accidents along the railway track.
“We were forced to hire private vehicles or adjust with some other police stations to attend to accidents along the SWR route,” said a source in the Vasco Railway Police.
The fatal mishap of a 79-year-old woman from Pokormoll-Kalay, who was killed after being hit by a speeding train at Kalay on Friday morning also highlighted the difficulties of the Vasco Railway Police.
The body remained along the railway track for over two-and-half hours, as the police took time to reach the site.
The many locals who had gathered at the site were unaware of the plight of the Vasco Railway Police and criticized the police for delay removing the body.
“If we fail to clear the body from the track in quick time, it can lead to a law and order problem. To avoid that, we alert the local police station, even though the Railway Police has the jurisdiction of cases along the SWR railway line,” added the source.
In the last 20 days, six bodies have been recovered along the SWR track, including two recent accidental deaths in Vasco.
“One can only imagine the plight of the Railway Police, which is expected to man the 82-km stretch without any vehicle,” added the source.
“If bodies lying on the track or alongside the track are not cleared immediately, then could be mutilated by another moving train.”
“In such cases, we literally have to collect the mutilated remains from one place to another and this is mainly due to the delay in attending to such cases,” the source said.
