More than 700 offences logged in rly safety week

Mumbai: The government railway police (GRP) recorded 721 offences between January 2 and 8 when Railway Safety Week was observed.      Illegal travel in coaches reserved for women and the disabled ranked among the highest violations with 106 cases on Western Railway (WR) and 77 cases on Central Railway (CR). Sixty-seven runaway kids were also found on the city's suburban network.      "Valuables that had been stolen from commuters during 2013 were returned during the safety week. These included Rs 3.37 lakh cash, gold ornaments worth Rs 27.50 lakh, 83 cellphones and a laptop worth Rs 20,000," said assistant commissioner R Redkar.      The railway crime branch prepared a list of repeat offenders. "We decided to focus on these men and take extra efforts to ensure that they remained behind bars by applying stringent charges. Out of the 10 offenders that we had identified, Mohammad Kaif Mallik (27), was arrested on Wednesday. He is a serial cellphone thief. We have recovered over a dozen phones from him," said senior inspector DD Wadmare.      The GRP held counselling sessions with complainants who had lodged cases for the first time and were likely to develop cold feet in court. The complainants and witnesses were briefed about various questions that a defence lawyer may pose.