Latest news with #GRP
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Tripura woman arrested with pistol, live cartridges, drugs
A 25-year-old woman, who possessed pistol and contraband items, was arrested on Friday in North Tripura district. The woman, identified as Mamoni Begum, was nabbed during a raid at the house of her husband, Helal Miah, at Bhagyapur of Dharmanagar. Acting on a tip off, a police team headed by Additional Superintendent of Police Jeremiah Darlong recovered a pistol, four live cartridges and 7,800 yaba tablets worth Rs 20 lakh from Begum's possession. 'We arrested her and a case was registered against her under the Arms Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The police are interrogating the woman to know from where she collected the pistol and for what purpose,' North Tripura District Superintendent of Police Avinash Rai told reporters. Nearly three weeks ago, eight pistols and 16 empty magazines were recovered from an express train in Agartala railway station. The operation was conducted with the joint initiative of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) during their routine security check of the Firozpur-Agartala bound Tripura Sundari Express train. The recovered pistols are all factory-made and smaller in size than the 9 mm service pistols.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Fatka' gang strikes again, targets Kalyan-Thane belt
Thane: Local train commuters are urging the police to increase patrolling and install CCTV cameras along the tracks after the notorious 'fatka gang' resumed its activities, striking twice in a span of two days in the Kalyan-Thane belt. The fatka gang is a group of notorious robbers stationed near the railway tracks who target passengers standing on the footboard of local trains by attacking their hands with sticks and stones, causing their phones to fall out of the train. The gang members then pick up the dropped phones and run away. The gang derived its name from the Marathi word 'fatka', which means a hit. It has been operating for several years. On May 25, a woman travelling from Vasai to Thane in a general ladies coach was robbed. After the train left Kalyan station around 6 pm, an unidentified man standing near the railway tracks hit her hand while she was standing at the door. This caused her mobile phone to fall out of the train. The man picked up the phone and fled. This followed a similar attack in the region on May 26, raising serious concerns about passenger safety in Mumbai's suburban railway network. A commuters' association condemned the recurring attacks and demanded action from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP). 'The safety of lakhs of daily passengers is at stake. It is extremely dangerous when someone attacks you on a running train. There have been deaths in the past due to such incidents, and this must stop now. Authorities must crack down on such gangs before the situation worsens,' said Geeta Sahastrabuddhe, a member of a commuter association from Kalyan. Passengers are urging increased patrolling, installation of CCTV cameras, and faster response units aboard long-distance and local trains, especially during peak hours and in vulnerable stretches. 'We have taken serious note of the incident and have already begun a thorough investigation. Teams are scanning CCTV footage from multiple stations, and efforts are underway to identify and apprehend the accused. We urge commuters to remain alert and report any suspicious activity immediately. Security measures will be intensified in vulnerable sections, especially between Dombivli and Thane,' said the assistant commissioner of police, GRP, Thane and Kalyan division.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: Accused turned to opium sale after betting loss, say cops
After a 31-year-old man was caught in possession of a large quantity of opium at Ludhiana Junction government railway police (GRP),officials said that he wanted to sell the contraband to recover a loss of over three lakh rupees suffered in an online betting application. The accused, Santosh Singh, was arrested on May 16 with 16 kg of opium,the largest quantity recovered by the department so far. Santosh, a resident of Chatra district in Jharkhand, was caught while attempting to leave the station through an alternate route. According to inspector Palwinder Singh, station house officer (SHO) of the GRP station at Ludhiana Junction, Santosh raised suspicion after he was seen heading towards the Lakkar bridge from platform number 4-5, carrying a large backpack. Initial investigation had revealed that Santosh had been working at an eatery in Bhogpur near Jalandhar. He had returned to his hometown in Jharkhand for Holi and was allegedly transporting the contraband back as he resumed work. Inspector Palwinder Singh said that when Santosh was at his hometown, he got hooked to an online betting app. The addiction ended in a loss of three lakh rupees. To make up for his losses he gathered a huge tranche of opium and set out for Jalandhar. The SHO further claimed that this was not his first attempt. 'He had tried selling around 1kg of opium in December last year. He tried to repeat it but only on a larger scale as he wanted to compensate for the losses incurred in online betting,' said Palwinder Singh. Explaining how the accused sold opium, inspector Singh, said that he would initiate conversations with truck drivers at dhabas and then slip in opium offers and get customers. Inspector Singh said that GRP had checked Santosh's bank transactions to verify his history of betting.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Ticketless ‘godman' kicked off train, tampers with rails
Chennai: "Godmen don't need to buy tickets. I was kicked off trains for not having one. That's why I tried to sabotage them," said a man arrested for tampering with rail tracks in Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The successive instances of sabotage between April 26 and 29 at Avadi, Ambattur and Arakkonam had triggered nationwide alarm and the NIA too had joined the investigation. The culprit, however, turned out to be a 43-year-old Class XII dropout from Odisha who claimed to be a godman. The man, who styled himself as 'Om from Haridwar on a spiritual journey' believed godmen didn't require tickets, because they were above such rules. He was caught in Hyderabad two weeks ago after he tampered with the tracks between Kacheguda and Budvel and his game was up. TN's Govt Railway Police flew to Haridwar but found no record of an 'Om' there. Instead, they found his real name was Vijaykumar and that he was drifter who worked as an electrician in several states before staying at a mutt near Tiruttani. That's where he assumed the persona of a godman and believed he didn't need a ticket to ride. "He said he placed metal objects and stones on railway tracks, angry at being thrown off trains for not having a ticket," said GRP superintendent I Eswaran. It was just providence that his actions did not result in a tragedy. At Arakkonam, metal rods and stones were wedged across six rail joints. An accident as averted only because the loco pilot of the Tirupati-Puducherry Express noticed a signal anomaly and halted the train in time. The pattern became clear only after his arrest. He was brought to Chennai on a transit remand last week. He is now remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Puzhal prison.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Rs 25,000 will be given to people who help accident victim's: Nitin Gadkari
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday while addressing Yatra Kavach 2025 event announced that the tendering process for four highways with automated systems has been started, paving the way for zero queues at the toll gates. 'We have started the tendering process for four highways and it will be rolled out across the country. It will be a completely automated system which will end the queues at the toll gates,' said Gakdari at the event. 'There will be a six inch pipe at the entry which would be fitted with cameras and scanners which can read your FASTag and the toll would be deducted only for the distance travelled," said the minister. Speaking on road accidents, Gadkari said that nearly 1.80 lakh people lose their lives in such incidents every year. At least 65% of these victims are young people aged between 18 to 34 years, underscoring the vulnerability of the nation's youth on the roads. 'This is a shocking reality. We are losing more lives on our roads than in riots or pandemics,' Gadkari said, emphasising the urgency of improving road safety measures in the country. Additionally, Gadkari has ruled out any subsidy or support to the industry with relation to Research and Development (R&D) into the crash barriers. 'Instead of providing subsidies we can purchase them, as there is a huge demand for them which will help the manufacturer. We are constructing around 40-50 highways and all of them would be access controlled, generating a large demand for crash barriers, like Gorakhpur to Siliguri and Chennai to Delhi,' said Gadkari. The Union Minister also confirmed that several companies have now started making crash barriers with materials like bamboo, timber and GRP( Glass Reinforced Plastic) which will also reduce steel consumption.
