In the light of a recent firing incident involving a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable, who had shot dead four people including his senior officer on a moving train, the Railway Board has constituted a six-member high-level committee to suggest systemic measures to ascertain mental health of RPF staff.
“The committee will examine the precautions to be taken before weapon is issued to RPF personnel. We will also examine what type of weapon should be issued,” one of the committee members told The Hindu.
Also Read | Centre orders X to block footage of RPF shooter Chetan Singh
The committee will also give recommendations on how to ascertain if the staff is mentally fit for deployment with weapon or otherwise, based on a medical examination.
The Railway Board has asked the committee to review existing guidelines regarding physical and mental health assessments and submit a report within three weeks.
The committee that will conduct the high-level inquiry into the incident is headed by Sanjay Sankrityayan, Additional Director-General (ADG), RPF. It includes Inspector-Generals P.C. Sinha and Ajoy Sadly, Principal Chief Security Commissioners of Western Railway and Central Railway respectively; J.P. Rawat, Principal Chief Medical Director of North Central Railway; Narsingh, Principal Chief Commercial Manager, North Western Railway; and Mr. Prabhat, Principal Chief Personnel Officer of West Central Railway.
The committee member further said that there is no systemic process for periodic psychological assessments in the RPF at the moment. “While there is a system of Periodical Medical Examinations for RPF personnel, where physical check-ups are carried out, there are no guidelines for timely assessments by psychologists or psychiatrists,” the member said.
Railway officials have claimed that the assailant Chetan Singh, a constable with RPF, had hid his alleged diagnosis of psychosis from RPF officials.
Mr. Singh who was posted in RPF’s Parel workshop shot dead his in-charge Assistant Sub-Inspector Tika Ram Meena and three others using his service ARM rifle (AK-47) on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Express on July 31. It occurred when the train was nearing Vaitarna railway station. The three other passengers killed by Mr. Singh were Muslims.
A departmental complaint had reportedly been made against Mr. Singh earlier, over a scuffle that had broken out between him and his peers.
Before Mumbai, Mr. Singh was posted with RPF special force, an armed wing, and later as an executive staff at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and Bhavnagar in Gujarat.
