They secure trains, but keep your wallet!

Check your pockets to ensure your belongings are with you after you are frisked at a Metro station. Read on to know whyThey frisk you and scan your luggage to ensure that the Metro train you are about to board is safe from terror attacks. Check mate! Every commuter is frisked by CISF personnel before boarding trains. Pic/Mid DayBut next time the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel frisk you at the Metro station,u00a0 check your pockets to ensure that your belongings are with you. An exercise that has becomeu00a0 necessary if one goes by 22-year-old B. Tech student Gaurav Gupta's recent experience.On January 21, Gupta was on his way to meet some of his friends at Connaught Place. He entered the Metro station at Akshardham and after passing through the metal detector and getting frisked by a CISF guard, he moved ahead, only to be told by a fellow passenger to check his wallet. Shocked, he checked his pocket and realised his wallet was missing.I had kept the wallet in my back pocket and didn't even realise when it was taken out. When I went to collect it, I saw a CISF guard keeping something in his pocket. When I checked my wallet, I found a Rs 100 note missing. A passerby also confirmed that the guard had taken something out from the wallet, Gupta said.When Gupta asked why his purse was taken, the CISF guard on duty told him it was a routine check and security had been beefed up for Republic Day. I told him a note from my wallet was missing but he didn't pay any heed. I even tried to lodge a complaint at the customer care counter but they refused to act saying it was a security issue and would have to be taken up with the CISF, added Gupta.u00a0 He then went to the other CISF guards posted there to lodge the complaint but was threatened and told to board the train quietly.u00a0 I was told if I don't go away, I would be fined Rs 500 in some Metro related offence. I asked them to show me the CCTV footage but they didn't comply and even refused to give the names of senior officers whom I could have approached to lodge the complaint, Gupta said. Dejected, he moved on. When MiD DAY contacted Rohit Katiyar, the chief spokesman of CISF, he said, No such matter has come to us. We can initiate action only if the person lodges a complaint with us. According to a police official, most of the thefts take place at the Metro stations during peak hours. There have been several instances where thieves have carried sharp objects inside the Metro stations and used them to cut open bags to steal items. He however had nothing to say about this particular incident. X-rated In November 2009, a jeweller lost 250 grams of gold when he put his baggage through an X-ray scanner at Karol Bagh Metro station. The victim - Sanjeev Nischal- entered the Metro station and put his bag on the X-ray scanner and went for a security check. When he went to collect it, he found the bag that had gold in it missing. He also had alleged that CISF personnel were involved in this case. Barred in Metro *u00a0Explosive substances which possess risk of explosion or fire.* Gases compressed, liquefied or dissolved under pressure* Petroleum and other inflammable liquids* Inflammable solids*u00a0 Oxidising substances * Poisonous (toxic) substances* Acids and other corrosives* Radio-active substances* Any other article declared as dangerous by the Metro authority from time to time Private affair MID DAY had reported that Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL), the operator of high-speed Metro Airport Express lineu00a0 refused to engage Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for security purposes. The development came a day after Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety had asked the operator to reconsider its security plan as CISF was engaged in providing security to other lines of Delhi Metro.A DAMPEL spokesperson told MiD DAY, We have proposed that our in-house team will take care of the security of Airport Express line. We have recruited competent people for the same from defence services and well-known security agencies. All the necessary security equipment has been procured and installed. In order to have sufficient manpower and provide foolproof security, we are not depending on a single agency but are engaging two agencies - SIS and Securitus, said the spokesperson.