TIRUPATI: The Government Railway Police (GRP) stations located in Tirupati, Renigunta and Kadapa have been facing staff crunch. The GRP stations have only 67 police personnel, though there is a need to appoint 158 police personnel in these three stations.
Though the workload has increased manifold over the years, the number of GRP personnel has remained the same, which is now posing threat to the safety and security of passengers. As many as eight sub-inspectors, seven head constables and 76 police constables are lying vacant in these three GRP stations.
About 15 PCs and 3 SIs were required at Tirupati GRP Station and the Renigunta GRP Station has a requirement of 18 PCs, 5 HCs and 5 SIs. The Kadapa GRP Station is short of 13 PCs and 2 HCs. It was also learnt that there were many vacancies in RPF too, where only 38 have been working against the sanctioned strength of 70 in Tirupati Railway Station.
Due to inadequate security arrangements, several untoward incidents took place in the past. On July 20, a senior assistant loco pilot was thrashed and robbed by a gang at the eastern side of Tirupati Railway Station.