MSF men to man city FOBs

After the impact of the stampede at Elphinstone station on September 29, the state government has responded by now selecting security personnel to man the crowds at stations.

At least two hundred trained security personnel would be deployed at stations from December 1. These security personnel who belong to Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) are exclusively trained for crowd management and will be deployed at foot overbridges (FOBs) for safety of commuters.

Nearly 259 personnel from MSF were inducted into Railway Protection Force (RPF) of central railway at an induction programme conducted on Thursday, at the RPF headquarters in Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). Out of these, eight personnel will supervise and monitor the deployed staff. These personnel would be deployed at FOBs, station platforms, entry and exit points of the stations for managing the crowd from Friday onwards.

“They will work on an eight-hour-shift and will be deployed at stations between CSMT to Karjat/Kasara and Panvel station on harbour line. These personnel are trained in crowd management, mob psychology and public interference,” said Deputy Chief Security Commissioner of Central Railway, RPF, Rambhau Pawar.

A special class on mob psychology was also provided to this force in order to understand the psyche of a mob. “There are three types of people present in a mob. One is a helper, another one is an opposer and third is an on-looker. We made them understand of the psychology and the reaction of every person present in a mob,” added Pawar.