Rahul Gandhi’s whirlwind visit to the city on Friday saw him walk into the crowded Andheri railway station and stand in queue to buy his own ticket.
It was a test that the Government Railway Police (GRP) was completely unprepared for but passed with flying colours.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s whirlwind visit to the city on Friday saw him walk into the crowded Andheri railway station and stand in queue to buy his own ticket.
What had Mumbai police commissioner D Sivanandhan impressed was the railway police’s response time. With a lead time of just eight minutes, the force went into a tizzy to ensure that all arrangements were in place.
After attending the function at Bhaidas Hall in Vile Parle, Gandhi was scheduled to travel to the Pawan Hans facility at the Juhu airport and travel to Ghatkopar by helicopter. But brushing aside security concerns, he and his entourage zoomed off to Andheri station.
At the station, Gandhi withdrew cash from the ATM. The Congress general secretary then stood patiently in queue to buy a ticket to Dadar.
Thousands of commuters thronged the station to take a closer look at the politician before he boarded the Virar-Dadar train.
While Gandhi interacted with the people, the entire state police administration went into overdrive. The railway police were intimidated of Gandhi’s detour, and had exactly eight minutes to get their act together.
Director-general of police AN Roy called senior inspector Shivaji Shinde of the Dadar railway police station and gave him the updates.
Within moments, a team of 10 GRP police personnel, including deputy commissioner of police Kaiser Khalid, assistant commissioner of police Bapu Thombre, and Shinde scrambled into Dadar station.
Gandhi reached Dadar at about 1:20pm and climbed a foot overbridge to cross over to the Central Railway section. He boarded the 1:29pm Kalyan-bound fast local and continued his interaction with fellow commuters.
Finally, Gandhi alighted at Ghatkopar station and zoomed off in a car to Ramabai Nagar, leaving the railway police hassled and drenched in sweat.
“It was a nightmare,” said a senior state police officer. “Only three days ago there was an intelligence input of a fidayeen attack on four railway stations, including Dadar. In such a situation if someone as important as Gandhi does what he did, it can be very unnerving.”
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