A total of 52,494 individuals have been arrested over the past five years for unlawfully possessing property belonging to Indian Railways under the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966. Complaints were lodged against 50,432 of these offenders in the respective courts, as per official data presented in Parliament.
The responsibility of safeguarding railway property lies with the Railway Protection Force, which is authorized to file cases of theft, misappropriation, abetment, connivance, and conspiracy against railway property under the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966.
During the same period, 12,157 incidents of stone pelting were recorded, leading to the arrest of 8,441 individuals by the Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw provided these figures.
In the last five years, only three instances of derailment due to malicious activities occurred on Indian Railways, with one each in the Waltair Division of East Coast Railway, the Jhansi Division of North Central Railway, and the Chennai Division of Southern Railway.
To prevent criminal tampering with railway tracks, regular State-Level Security Committee meetings are being conducted, chaired by the Directors General of Police of each State and J&K, along with representatives from the Railway Protection Force, Government Railway Police, and Intelligence units.
Efforts include frequent patrolling of identified vulnerable areas by the Railways, Railway Protection Force, Government Railway Police, and Civil Police. Awareness campaigns are ongoing to educate residents near railway tracks about the risks of placing foreign objects on tracks and to encourage reporting of suspicious activities promptly.
Surveillance measures like drones and solar-powered closed-circuit television cameras are also being utilized to maintain security.
