Hyd trains porters to detect explosives

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Police are training railway station porters to spot what could be possible explosives and keep a track of suspicious elements.

"It is important that porters, who spend most of the time at the railway station, be trained to see suspicious elements. Even if they feel the slightest suspicions they should come to us and tell us immediately," Chief Security Commissioner, Railway Police Force, Kamal Kumar, said.

Police say they are crunched for staff and creating a first line of defence is their best part against masterminds of terror, who are increasingly employing locals, particularly youth, to carry out their operations.

The entire training session was in vernacular language and the porters, who pledged full support to the cops, also got to see for the first time what some of the explosives look like.

"We are being trained because of all the trouble that is happening like the recent bomb blast in Mumbai. Whatever suspicious things we see, we will report. We will help them," a porter Mallesh Yadav, said.

The porters, marked by their bright red uniforms, already have a neat working system in place with small groups controlling portions of the sprawling platform.

Officials say that the men know every nook and corner of the terminal and are known to get friendly with passengers, often engaging in small talk, which might get them vital clues.

The training scheme has been replicated across many railway stations like Varanasi, where the porters are already helping the security forces to scan the stations and trains.

Nearly 150 porters were trained by explosive experts for detecting some of the common bomb carriers like tiffin boxes, suitcase and even large books.

The latest drive comes in the wake of Mumbai's train bombings earlier this month that had killed 180 people and sparked fears of similar attack at other major cities.

Unlike postmen, milk vendors or newspaper boys, familiar figures in any community, railway porters are faceless beings, a breed apart in their relative anonymity.

A porter's licence for any Indian railway station is granted on the behalf of the President of India.