dna exclusive: Bomb hoax calls delayed 22 long-distance trains starting from Mumbai in two years

Most passengers running late to board a train have clung to one hope irrespective of the consequences to delay the train by hook or by crook.

Hoax bomb calls have delayed 22 long-distance trains departing from Mumbai in the past two years. According to an analysis of such calls by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials, each of the calls delayed a train for at least three hours on an average.

The callers were mostly passengers who were late in reaching the terminus. But, there were other reasons too taking revenge against a rival, a drunk passenger, a mentally sick person, a prankster wanting to have fun seeing panic among passengers and the police or an innocent child who did it without any intention.

“We take every bomb hoax call very seriously,” said Rajendra Rupnavar, senior divisional security commissioner of RPF, Western Railway.Every call send the police into a tizzy.“We are fed up with bomb hoax calls which create unnecessarypanic among passengers and are a waste of time as well as money,” said a police inspector of Mumbai GPR.

He added that most hoax calls were made from mobile phones.

The caller usually throws away the SIM card, making it difficult for the police to trace the real culprit. Sources said most calls about planting of bombs or explosives on trains are made to Mumbai city control room. The Mumbai city control room officers immediately alert the Mumbai GRP control room. The GRP control room in turn informs the GRP station from where the train is leaving or reaching.

The GRP and RPF officers then take out the sniffer dogs. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad thoroughly conduct anti-sabotage check on train, check luggage and frisk passengers, and  the entire process delays the train.