Hooch trains chug without hindrance
Bootleggers have a free run on trains on Ahmedabad-Himmatnagar metre gauge route; in the absence of the police they pull chain at will to ferry hooch into city
Yogesh Avasthi, Vijay Zala
Posted On Saturday, January 05, 2013 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20130105201301050253445818484e90b/Hooch-trains-chug-without-hindrance.html
Ideally, a train chugging on the only metre gauge section in Ahmedabad Division of Western Railway should be fun, but for about 15 loco pilots and guards it is nothing less than a ‘terror train’. These correspondents boarded the Ahmedabad- Nandol Dehgam train twice and found that threatened, humiliated and deprived of security cover, these railway employees have been soft targets for bootleggers and peddlers for a year now. Trains coming from Himmatnagar to Ahmedabad after 3 pm are targeted by bootleggers and peddlers to load and unload hooch. Such is the terror of bootleggers that the loco drivers who take the train on this route regularly are afraid of even getting down from the train to check the compartment in which the chain is pulled, fearing stone pelting by bootleggers.0
MODUS OPERANDI
According to sources, it is mostly country made liquor from Dehgam and Prantij that is ferried in these trains. The liquor, according to insiders, is concentrated and costs around Rs 50 per pouch. Once it reaches the local bootleggers it is diluted and sold at the rate of Rs 25 a pouch, yielding high profits to all. The pouches are unloaded at predetermined spots and from there supplied to different places in the city. Many of those who board the train at Dehgam and Prantij are peddlers. Naroda, Sardarnagar, Saizpur and Memco Bridge are the precise locations where the chain is pulled almost every day so that the bootleggers can load and unload their liquor. Travelling in the first and the last compartment of the train, AM correspondents saw fear even among the passengers.
“The train is going to stop before Asarwa comes,” said a co-passenger. As the train moved towards Memco Crossing around 5.30 pm, chain pulling took place. As soon as the train stopped, a large number of people from nearby slums almost gheraoed the last two bogies. Within four minutes, a big sack was taken off the train. A young boy took off the bulb in the compartment and as it became dark, it was difficult to see who was playing mischief. In about two minutes, the loco driver arrived at the bogie and unlocked the break so that the train could move ahead. “This is our routine process. You and I are fortunate that stones are not pelted. If any senior officer comes even for a day on this route, he would realise the kind of fear, humiliation and threat to life we endure almost every day,” said the loco driver requesting anonymity for obvious reasons. He added, “The goons abuse us.”
RAILWAY STAFF INJURED
Notably, the loco pilots and guards facing the problem have been complaining about this to senior officials in Ahmedabad Division, but no concrete action has been taken so far. “Can any officer face stones while knowing that there is no back-up in terms of protection from Railway Protection Force? We have been targets of bootleggers for many years, but for the last seven months, it has become almost impossible for us to perform our duty. It is just that if we speak much about it we would be transferred to a route which would disturb our family lives completely,” said a loco pilot.
A guard from another metre gauge train said, “One of our colleagues recently got injured in stone pelting, but we know no action will be taken to improve the situation for us. With no option we are simply following the formalities which we have to do in case of chain pulling. Why would we risk our lives for something when we know that the goons have an upper hand? My family is worried till the time I reach home as they know what happens to us on board.” The staff, he said, have lost count of the times the chain has been pulled in the last few months. A young daily commuter said, “I was wondering why the chain pulling was delayed. Just like sunset and sunrise, chain pulling in these trains is something which will invariably happen and that too dot on time.”
Yogesh Avasthi, Vijay Zala
Posted On Saturday, January 05, 2013 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20130105201301050253445818484e90b/Hooch-trains-chug-without-hindrance.html
Ideally, a train chugging on the only metre gauge section in Ahmedabad Division of Western Railway should be fun, but for about 15 loco pilots and guards it is nothing less than a ‘terror train’. These correspondents boarded the Ahmedabad- Nandol Dehgam train twice and found that threatened, humiliated and deprived of security cover, these railway employees have been soft targets for bootleggers and peddlers for a year now. Trains coming from Himmatnagar to Ahmedabad after 3 pm are targeted by bootleggers and peddlers to load and unload hooch. Such is the terror of bootleggers that the loco drivers who take the train on this route regularly are afraid of even getting down from the train to check the compartment in which the chain is pulled, fearing stone pelting by bootleggers.0
MODUS OPERANDI
According to sources, it is mostly country made liquor from Dehgam and Prantij that is ferried in these trains. The liquor, according to insiders, is concentrated and costs around Rs 50 per pouch. Once it reaches the local bootleggers it is diluted and sold at the rate of Rs 25 a pouch, yielding high profits to all. The pouches are unloaded at predetermined spots and from there supplied to different places in the city. Many of those who board the train at Dehgam and Prantij are peddlers. Naroda, Sardarnagar, Saizpur and Memco Bridge are the precise locations where the chain is pulled almost every day so that the bootleggers can load and unload their liquor. Travelling in the first and the last compartment of the train, AM correspondents saw fear even among the passengers.
“The train is going to stop before Asarwa comes,” said a co-passenger. As the train moved towards Memco Crossing around 5.30 pm, chain pulling took place. As soon as the train stopped, a large number of people from nearby slums almost gheraoed the last two bogies. Within four minutes, a big sack was taken off the train. A young boy took off the bulb in the compartment and as it became dark, it was difficult to see who was playing mischief. In about two minutes, the loco driver arrived at the bogie and unlocked the break so that the train could move ahead. “This is our routine process. You and I are fortunate that stones are not pelted. If any senior officer comes even for a day on this route, he would realise the kind of fear, humiliation and threat to life we endure almost every day,” said the loco driver requesting anonymity for obvious reasons. He added, “The goons abuse us.”
RAILWAY STAFF INJURED
Notably, the loco pilots and guards facing the problem have been complaining about this to senior officials in Ahmedabad Division, but no concrete action has been taken so far. “Can any officer face stones while knowing that there is no back-up in terms of protection from Railway Protection Force? We have been targets of bootleggers for many years, but for the last seven months, it has become almost impossible for us to perform our duty. It is just that if we speak much about it we would be transferred to a route which would disturb our family lives completely,” said a loco pilot.
A guard from another metre gauge train said, “One of our colleagues recently got injured in stone pelting, but we know no action will be taken to improve the situation for us. With no option we are simply following the formalities which we have to do in case of chain pulling. Why would we risk our lives for something when we know that the goons have an upper hand? My family is worried till the time I reach home as they know what happens to us on board.” The staff, he said, have lost count of the times the chain has been pulled in the last few months. A young daily commuter said, “I was wondering why the chain pulling was delayed. Just like sunset and sunrise, chain pulling in these trains is something which will invariably happen and that too dot on time.”
