GRP goes after stuntmen and train romeos

The Government Railway Police (GRP) are on a war footing to catch stuntmen in local trains. In a two-day drive conducted last week, they have managed to catch 25 offenders, both on Central and Western Railway.

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A majority of arrests have been made at stations like Dadar, Mumbai Central, Bandra, Borivli, Kurla, Dombivli and Kalyan. The 25 offenders were arrested for abusing and sexually harassing women on running trains. "The drive against offenders was conducted between 6 pm and 10 pm in the evening as the number of complaints were high during this time period," said a GRP official.

Caught in the act: Nadeem Sheikh (22), who was arrested by the GRP on Tuesday while performing stunts on a train, is wanted for robbery, assault and house-breaking

The GRP has also taken to task the people who performstunts on local trains. Every week, in the wee hours of Tuesday, many groups board the local trains and harass passengers on their way to the Siddhivinayak temple, by peeking into their compartments, passing comments, and running after their compartments.
In the wee hours of Tuesday, between 3 am to 5 am, the GRP conducted a drive between Mahalaxmi and Dadar stations to nab the stuntmen.

A team of 24 policemen were deployed, which included one police inspector, one sub-inspector and 22 constables. Twenty five such ‘stuntmen' were arrested.
"They were all travelling without a ticket. All those who were caught performing stunts have been sent for a medical examination," added the GRP official.

Bansidhar Shirsat, deputy commissioner of police (GRP), said, "We have been conducting several drives to control the menace. Surprisingly, out of the 25 stuntmen arrested, 15 are juveniles, which is very sad. Their parents have been called and the juveniles are receiving counselling."

Among the stuntmen caught, the police have managed to get their hands on Nadeem Sheikh (22), who has many cases of robbery, assault and housebreaking registered against him and is on the police's wanted list.u00a0

Daredevils nabbed
179
The number of people arrested for performing stunts in trains in August 2013

102
The number of people arrested for performing stunts in trains in July 2013

754
Total number of people arrested for performing stunts in trains last year