Resentment is prevailing among the Railway police personnel with the special directives of Additional DG of Railway Police Maithili Sharan Gupt on whose directives special drive was launched to penalised the cops travelling without ticket. Around 75 police personnel were found without ticket at the Bhopal Railway station and were penalised in the past two days.
Gupt said that the penalty was not imposed under any special drive but it is under the general instructions under which passengers without ticket should be penalised.
It is possible that the number of police personnel penalised might be more in the last two days due to which the information has surfaced. There are duty cards provided to the police personnel when they travel in connection of any investigation or while escorting any criminal.
The police personnel are entitled to travel in reserve classed according to their rank but it is not at all acceptable that a police personnel in uniform should be allowed to travel without ticket or the police personnel should not be let free if found without platform ticket at the railway platform, he added.Revenue of railways should be affected and those affecting the revenue should be penalized to set example for others.
On the other hand, those assigned with the jobs also fear that action could be taken against them if they are found detering public servant from discharge from duty but if action is taken against those without tickets it is according to law and is correct practice. Senior official and the GRP police officers were not aware of the number of penalties but justified and supported the action as police personnel are not beyond the law and must abide by the law.