The robbery incident, in which the assailants entered the paid area of the Delhi Metro, and even gained access to the control room, raises eyebrows about the safety and security inside the Metro station. Even more worrisome is the fact that the assailants entered the area with a knife after frisking and scanning of their luggage.
last year in October, a man who entered the Metro station with a gun, had travelled in the Metro carrying it with him and had then shot himself at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, raising similar questions about the passenger safety.
While Metro officials claim that it is Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which is responsible for maintaining security at the Metro stations and its entire network, such security lapses call for attention towards further enhancing security at the Delhi Metro which is used by more than 25 lakh passengers every day.
Delhi Police has often shown interest for the job of securing the Metro. Delhi Police had handed over Metro’s security to CISF in 2005.
Delhi being the national capital is always on the hit-list of various terrorist oufits and has been frequently on terror alert; as recently as last week.
Earlier, in the wake of multiple blasts in Brussels in March, Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary had reviewed the security. The Minister had expressed satisfaction about the overall handling of the operations and security of around 2.6 million passengers daily.
However, the recent incident has shaken the confidence of many commuters. “If a man can enter the Metro station with a gun and shoot himself, who is stopping him to point gun at someone elseIJ The two men who entered the Metro station today (Monday) to loot cash could have been terrorists. The security agencies need to step up their game else a bigger tragedy could happen tomorrow,” said Amit Gupta, who regularly travels in Metro.