Title - Security tightened at railway stations

ALLAHABAD: Security has been tightened at the Allahabad railway junction and the adjoining stations of Naini, Rambagh, Prayag, Prayag Ghat, Daraganj, Jhunsi and Phaphamau as streams of pilgrims have started arriving in the city on Saturday to take a holy dip at the Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. Security personnel comprising of Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) have been deployed at the various points of the Allahabad junction and other stations.In addition to this, security personnel comprising of BSF, CISF, PAC, civil police and home guards have also been deployed at the station and other places.Talking to TOI, OP Singh CO of GRP informed that various battalions of paramilitary forces have been called to assist GRP and RPF for providing security. About two companies of Border Security Force (BSF), six of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), six companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and 20 companies of RPSF, 15,000 home guards have been called to provide security to the pilgrims.Security personnel have been deployed at all the entry points and various parts of the stations including circulating area, platforms, foot over bridges (FOB), parking stands, waiting room and other areas of the station. There is a three-tier security structure which is being provided to the pilgrims arriving in the Sangam city.

In the three-tier structure security plan, trains are being checked at various places. In this connection, checking of trains has been intensified at major stations within a radius of 250 kms of Allahabad. They are being checked at major stations, including Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Mughalsarai and Jaunpur stations.

In addition to this, security has also been upgraded at the small stations which are in the railway routes leading to Allahabad from every direction. This is the second tier of the security. In the railway route from Kanpur to Allahabad, trains are being checked at Bharwari. Similarly, in the railway route of Mughalsarai to Allahabad, security has been upgraded at Meja station where trains are being checked. In the Allahabad-Pratapgarh railway route, checking of trains was conducted at Mauaima station. In the Allahabad-Varanasi route, security has been upgraded at Lalgopalganj where trains are being checked.

In the inner cordon, security has been upgraded at the Allahabad railway junction and smaller stations within the city purview. This is the inner and tier three of security structure. In this connection, security has been upgraded at smaller stations surrounding Rambagh, Prayag, Prayagghat, Daraganj, Phaphamau, Jhunsi and Naini junctions.

To upgrade security at Allahabad railway junction and keep vigil on suspicious activities, various CCTVs (Closed Circuit Televisions ) have been set up. Cameras have been installed at various points of the junction, including circulating area, PRS (Passenger Reservation System) counters, UTS ( Unreserved Ticketing System) counters, booking office, various platforms, FOBs, cloak room and other places at the junction. footages of CCTV are being stored in CDs and pen drives.

Striking force armed with automatic weapons have also been deployed at the platform of the junction to thwart nefarious designs of trouble makers. Teams of bomb disposal squad and dog squad have also been pressed into service to meet any eventuality.