On an early morning in August 2013, Balkrushna Modak, a constable with Vashi Government Railway Police (GRP), was patrolling a local train on the Panvel-Thane route. As the train entered the Turbhe station, he spotted a group of 8-9 people shouting and fighting among themselves. At the time, there were hardly any other people in that compartment.
Modak rushed to the spot and tried to stop the fighting. After he told the gang that they would be arrested for fighting inside a train, the group came forward and attacked him.
"All of them were between the ages of 20 and 25. They got hold of me inside the moving train and began assaulting me. They continued hitting me as I was shouting for help for almost four to five minutes," said Modak.
"After that, the culprits tried to throw me out of the train, but I managed to free myself from their grip. The train entered Koparkhairane station by then and I jumped off that compartment to save my life," he added.
Ten months on, the police still don't have any clue to the cluprits.
Modak is the official who found a 22-year-old engineering student severely injured in a local train on the Panvel-Thane route on Thursday morning. That student was stabbed seven times by two unidentified culprits and was declared dead on arrival in a civic hospital in Thane.
Modak is however, not the only GRP official being attacked on duty. Two other officials with Vashi GRP were attacked in the last one year.
"Only 2 officials are deployed in a 9 compartment train, and only 3 officials in a 12 compartment train. With this manpower, we cannot ensure our own safety, forget the safety of the commuters. It is virtually dangerous to guard the trains, particularly in the early morning and late in the night," said a GRP official wishing anonymity.
"We are given firerams, but are not authorised to use them. In such a situation, we cannot do much, even for our own protection," another official said.
A senior police officer from Vashi GRP said, "Our officials are patrolling the trains in civil attire, equipped with firearms. They can use the firearms for self-defence in case they are attacked by such crooks. However, deploying more people will not be possible due to shortage of manpower."
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