New Delhi:
They frisk you and scan your luggage to ensure that the Metro train you are about to board is safe from terror attacks.
But next time the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel frisk you at the Metro station, check your pockets to ensure that your belongings are with you. An exercise that has become necessary if one goes by 22-year-old BTech student Gaurav Gupta's recent experience.
On January 21, Gupta was on his way to meet some of his friends at Connaught Place. He entered the Metro station at Akshardham and after passing through the metal detector and getting frisked by a CISF guard, he moved ahead, only to be told by a fellow passenger to check his wallet. Shocked, he checked his pocket and realised his wallet was missing.
"I had kept the wallet in my back pocket and didn't even realise when it was taken out. When I went to collect it, I saw a CISF guard keeping something in his pocket. When I checked my wallet, I found a Rs 100 note missing. A passerby also confirmed that the guard had taken something out from the wallet," Gupta said.
When Gupta asked why his purse was taken, the CISF guard on duty told him it was a routine check and security had been beefed up for Republic Day.
"I told him a note from my wallet was missing but he didn't pay any heed. I even tried to lodge a complaint at the customer care counter but they refused to act saying it was a security issue and would have to be taken up with the CISF," added Gupta. He then went to the other CISF guards posted there to lodge the complaint but was threatened and told to board the train quietly.
"I was told if I don't go away, I would be fined Rs 500 in some Metro related offence. I asked them to show me the CCTV footage but they didn't comply and even refused to give the names of senior officers whom I could have approached to lodge the complaint," Gupta said. Dejected, he moved on.
When MiD DAY contacted Rohit Katiyar, the chief spokesman of CISF, he said, "No such matter has come to us. We can initiate action only if the person lodges a complaint with us."
According to a police official, most of the thefts take place at the Metro stations during peak hours.
"There have been several instances where thieves have carried sharp objects inside the Metro stations and used them to cut open bags to steal items." He, however, had nothing to say about this particular incident.