Title - Customs officials rely on manual checking Worse still, railway authorities yet to address the issue

Amritsar : In the absence of modern security gadgets, the Customs Department here continues to perform security checks manually, even as instances of smuggling in the rail cargo from Pakistan are on the rise.The Railways too is yet to address the issue of security on the Attari-Amritsar stretch.Days after more than 100 kg of heroin was seized in the cargo from Pakistan, The Tribune team took stock of the procedure followed by the Customs Department to carry out security checks once a goods train from Pakistan arrives at the Attari railway station.The officials first check the seals of the wagons and then inspect the wagons physically.Thereafter, the goods train leaves the Attari station and moves towards the Amritsar rail cargo facility.The movement between Attari and Amritsar is usually slow. The train takes about 90 minutes to traverse a distance of 25 km. A section of traders claim this may take three or four hours at times. From Attari to Amritsar, there is no security personnel escorting the train. Customs officials say provinding security is the responsibility of the Railway authorities till the train reaches the Amritsar rail cargo facility.

The scenario is equally dismal at the rail cargo facility that is open on all sides. Anybody can access it without impediment. There is no security arrangements for either a loaded train or the goods unloaded there.The Customs officials again check the seals of the rail wagons as it reaches the rail cargo facility.

The entire procedure brings to the fore the need for a security overhaul at Attari. An x-ray machine for the rail cargo in Amritsar has been lying defunct for quite some time now. The process to get a new machine is underway, say sources.

Investigations into the seizure of 105 kg of heroin from a goods train reveal that the train reached the Amritsar rail cargo facility at 11 pm on Sunday. But it was handed over by the Railways to the Customs at 7 am on Monday.This means nobody kept a watch on the train for the entire night.

Heroin slipped into cargo between Attari and Amritsar, claims Pakistan

The Controller, Customs, Lahore, Fazal Yazdani, said today that the possibility of heroin being slipped into the rail cargo between Attari and Amritsar could not be ruled out. Talking to the media before returning to Pakistan, he said: “I have learnt that the seal of the wagon was intact at Attari and that it had been broken on the way from Attari to the Amritsar rail cargo.” He stressed on the need for an escort on the Attari-Amritsar stretch.

The Procedure

Officials check the seals of wagons and inspect the wagons physically

The train leaves the Attari station and moves towards Amritsar rail cargo facility

It takes 90 minutes to traverse a distance of 25 km; traders claim this could take 4 hours

There is no security personnel escorting the train on this stretch

Officials check the seals of the rail wagons again as it reaches the rail cargo facility