BENGALURU: Handheld metal detectors, used by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to frisk passengers and baggage at Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna railway station, have not been working for some time, raising serious questions over security. The RPF is now in the process of replacing them.
This reporter found neither a beep response nor lights working on the metal detectors. Brown tapes were put around specific points where lights glow to reveal working details.
A top railway official told TNIE that the problem had been plaguing these detectors for three months. “On one hand, there is talk of tightening security at the station. On the other, they are using such equipment that endangers the safety of passengers,” he said. KSR station has an average of 1.5 lakh footfall per day.
A senior RPF official conceded that around 30 per cent of the metal detectors are not working. “Many are too old and have been abandoned. Some need to be calibrated. We have already placed an indent for 120 new metal detectors for the division. They are expected to arrive by this month-end,” the official said.
Asked if this would create a grave security situation, he said, “If any dangerous item manages to pass through at the entrance, we still have baggage scanners and door frame metal detectors which will detect the items before people step inside the railway station.” While the main entrance does have a baggage scanner and a door frame metal detector, the same is not the case with the other entries to the railway station.