RailEnquiry

CHENNAI: Victims of crime on trains will no longer have to wait till they reach their destination to file a police complaint. They can do it from the comfort of their seats.Under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Networking (CCTN) system, introduced by the Government Railway Police (GRP) across 30 railway police stations on an experimental basis, passengers can log on to on their laptops or smartphones and file complaints about a stolen piece of baggage or other offences. GRP personnel will be able to track down criminals and crack cases quickly as police stations have been linked by a digital network and crime records for 10 years digitized. The system allows superior officers to effectively monitor police stations each of which has been given 3-4 computers worth Rs 3 lakh.The new system was inaugurated at the GRP station at Chennai Central on Monday.

All FIRs and cases filed at railway police stations, to be stored in a data centre, can be retrieved by officers to track down history of cases and crimes committed by culprits. "We will be able to solve a case quickly because crime records dating to 10 years have been digitized and uploaded. This will also help us crack down on gangs operating in different states," said ADGP (Railways) R Sekar.

On many occasions, gangs have taken advantage of interstate jurisdictional barriers to evade arrest for very long because tracking cases across different states is time-consuming. Recently, the railway police nabbed three men who used to fly to the city from Delhi and rob train passengers on south-bound trains from Chennai. Tracking down such gangs will now be easier, said a police officer.

"Passengers' online complaints will be registered immediately," said GRP DSP V Ponramu.

Sekar said the "CCTN system will reduce the time required to collate information gathered by police in different police districts, forensic experts and others. It will reduce the number of manual records or registers maintained at police stations." Automation will eliminate duplication of records and inconsistent record keeping and police will be able to access crime and criminal records easily, he said.

GRP personnel will be able to track down criminals and crack cases quickly as police stations have been linked by a digital network and crime records for 10 years digitized.