A 25-year-old software engineer was robbed of his mobile phone and some cash by an unidentified man brandishing a knife at the Tiruvanmiyur mass rapid transport system (MRTS) station on Wednesday night. The incident has once again turned the spotlight on the lack of security at MRTS stations that continue to be dingy structures.
Around 8.30 pm, S Arun of Avinashi in Coimbatore, who had returned after meeting a friend, was walking on the platform at the Tiruvanmiyur station when the starnger accosted him and snatched some cash and his mobile at knife point.
Arun cried out for help but the man managed to vanish in the dark. The youth then approached the ticket counter staff and told them of the incident. He was directed to the Egmore railway police station where he lodged a formal complaint. The railway police registered a case under IPC Section 392 (robbery).
“We have formed special teams and have got relevant information in connection with the accused. We hope to nab him soon,” Egmore railway station inspector B Jaishankar told TOI.
The Tiruvanmiyur station does not have a station master. There was a station master until the MRTS service was operated till Tiruvanmiyur. Later, when the service was extended to Velachery, the post of station master here was cancelled and moved to the Velachery railway station. Presently, there are station masters only at Park Town, Mylapore and Velachery; at the remaining stations there are only ticket counters on the ground floor. Sometime, government railway police personnel or Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel patrol in rounds at the stations.
“It is true that we have an acute shortage of police personnel. The jurisdiction extends from Old Jail Bridge to St Thomas Mount and from Park MRTS station to Velachery. Because of the insufficient strength, it is difficult to deploy more personnel to maintain surveillance at all these railway stations,” a police officer said.
Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Software-engineer-robbed-at-knifepoint-at-Tiruvanmiyur-railway-station/articleshow/7518354.cms
