Title - Beggars, sadhus a nuisance at rly station Cops claim the arrested beggars have to be released after

Bathinda: The rising number of beggars in and around the Bathinda railway station is causing a rise in criminal activities in the area.Apart from troubling the passengers, the beggars and other anti-social elements also steal and snatch their goods.Agreeing that the beggars and sadhus were creating a nuisance at the railway station, the officials of Bathinda police and railway police said they tried to identify beggars and sadhus with criminal background and drove them away but they resumed their activities after a few days.A section of complainants said despite bringing the matter to the attention of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Bathinda police, no action had been initiated to rein in the criminal activities at the station."The railway and the city police claim that since the beggars do not have any permanent address it is difficult to trace them,” said Aman, a city resident.Recalling a recent incident, he added that a beggar tried to snatch his iPod near the entrance of the railway station in the early morning hours.Rohit Singla, a resident of Rampura, said a beggar approached him and asked for alms and started abusing when he refused to give him money.The passengers also complained that the sadhus in and around the station sprinkled water on them and cursed them.Railway Protection Force (RPF) in-charge at the railway station, Ajay Rajpal, claimed that the RPF had been driving the beggars away from the railway station. "We had recently told many beggars to pack off from the area but they camp by the boundary wall adjoining the railway station,” Rajpal said.

He, however, refused to acknowledge the fact that the beggars and sadhus were involved in criminal activities in and around the station. The volunteers of NGO Sahara Jan Sewa said since the city residents had been giving these beggars and sadhus old clothes, food and alms, their numbers have increased over the months.

"Earlier, the number of these beggars was quite less but now there must be more than 200 beggars and sadhus present in and around the railway station,” said NGO president Vijay Goyal.

He added that most of the beggars consumed liquor and entered into brawls and abused each other.

"At present, there is no check on the rising number of beggars and criminal activities in one of the busiest areas of the city. It seems as if the authorities pity them and and let them roam around without any check,” Goyal said.

Kotwali SHO, Jaspal Singh, said despite receiving numerous complaints against beggars and other anti-social elements in and around the Bathinda railway station, there is hardly any way out.

“We catch them and produce them before the SDM. But they release themselves from the clutches of law by paying Rs 50 as fine. Within a few days of being caught and released, they resume their activities,” Jaspal said.

He also pointed out that people offering food and money to beggars were in fact encouraging anti-social elements. "People should refrain from helping or giving alms to such people,” the SHO said.