RPF helps SR collect whopping Rs 16.33 cr ticketless travel fine

Going by Railway’s own admission, a whopping Rs 16. 33 crore has been generated by the SR by way of fine imposed on ticketless travellers in 2019. A performance report of the RPF for 2019 revealed that 4.09 lakh free trippers were apprehended and penalised to the tune of Rs 16,33, 80, 509 last year, thanks to the assistance extended by RPF to the commercial wing during ticket checking.

Unsurprisingly, penalisation of ticketless travellers was not the only testimony to RPF’s policing success. In fact, they were also successful in seizing contraband worth Rs 6.53 crore last calendar year. RPF officials privy to the seizures stated that the contraband also included Ganja, nitrosen tablets, hashish oil and tobacco products besides illicit liquor. About 136 people involved in the contraband business were apprehended on 292 occasions and handed over to the police. They had also seized gold ornaments weighing 14.30kgs (Rs 4.73 crore worth) and arrested seven people in the case, last year.

This apart, unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 4 crore was identified, leading to the arrest of 13 people. Significantly, the agency had also retrieved lost baggage, one of the major problems of Railways, on 2,391 occasions and handed over belongings like cash, cell phones, write watches and jewellery to the owners. Another piece if information worth mentioning was realisation of Rs 32.27 lakh fine for footboard travel. Smokers have also contributed to the accolades of RPF, which had apprehended 1,742 for smoking aboard trains.