The Mumbai Central Division of Western Railway’s Railway Protection Force (RPF) has retrieved and returned lost, misplaced or stolen baggage of passengers. This year, to date, missing bags of 913 passengers valued at Rs 1.8 crore have been retrieved and handed over to rightful owners. Nearly 90 per cent of cases are of suburban passengers who forget things in the rush to board trains.
According to sources on average daily forgotten or lost luggage/ valuables of five passengers are being retrieved by WR in the current year is more than last year. In 2021 WR, RPF retrieved left behind luggage of 1,317 passengers value of Rs 2.57 crore on average of 3.65 cases per day.
RPF continues to assist passengers in order to make their journey comfortable. Grievance redressal, recovery of lost luggage and security-related calls are some of the key areas where RPF plays an active role. To date this year, the WR's RPF team returned 913 pieces of luggage valued at Rs 1.8 crore to the rightful owners after the completion of legal formalities.
Asked about comparatively more cases of passenger belongings in suburban sections, a senior official of the WR, said, “Work pressure, tearing hurry and talking on mobile phones are some of the reasons why people leave their luggage behind.”
Asked about the long-distance passengers, the official said, “When they reach the station at the last moment (train is about to depart) then the chance of misplacing the luggage is very high. Sometimes, it may happen due to the coolie’s fault, too.”
For the benefit of passengers, WR already started posting the details of the left behind baggage along with photographs on the official website of Western Railway. "Under the Mission Amanat initiative, the details of left-behind luggage along with photos are being posted over the official website of Western Railway. The information is uploaded by RPF in wr.indianrailways.gov.in in the tab of Divisions under the link Mission Amanat - RPF," said a senior officer of WR.
