Parcel smuggled out of MGR Central railway station again

Railway officials here have stumbled upon another parcel scam at MGR Chennai Central. A consignment ‘impounded’ by the Vigilance Department of Southern Railway (SR) for overweight on May 28 was smuggled out of the inward parcel office at the station last week, allegedly with the support of the same staff who were in the dock in connection with the parcel scam that was unearthed in November.

During a random check on May 28, railway vigilance chanced upon a consignment offloaded from Charminar Express weighing in excess of the quantum (four tonnes) declared by the consignor. Railway sources privy to the crackdown at the parcel office revealed to DT Next that vigilance sleuths had ordered the seizure of the goods, which was understood to have been declared as fish, after scrutiny of the papers confirmed irregularity.

The parcel was ‘impounded’ and kept at the inward parcel office for penal action, while the consignee had escaped without collecting it. But a week later, on June 6, the railway officials were stunned to find the impounded consignment missing from the inward parcel office. Vigilance sleuths, sources revealed, had collected a written statement from the inward parcel office supervisor Chitra Prabhu, before advising the Commercial Department staff to issue a memo to the Railway Protection Force (RPF), without whose knowledge no parcel leaves or enters the parcel offices atthe terminal.

Sources in Central revealed that the consignment was taken away before the second vigilance visit on June 6 with the support of a staff involved in the last year’s scam. In that case, miscreants had taken away a similar consignment despite resistance from the supervisor, which led to the suspension of five staff.

Shockingly, a deputy chief ticketing inspector rank employee holding senior position in an influential trade union of SR had approached an officer at the divisional headquarters, promising to get the parcel agent to pay the penalty for the consignment. While the officer was learnt to have refused to engage the controversial negotiator, RPF had refused to receive the memo issued for the missing parcel.

When asked, a highly placed official confirmed the impoundment of the goods after vigilance raid and said the matter was being investigated by the vigilance Department. A clear picture would emerge once it completes the probe and sends a report for follow up action, the official added.

Railway sources alluded to overweight being only the tip of the iceberg. “Paying a penalty, which would not run more than Rs 30,000 in the instant case, is no big deal for the agents. They are used to paying such lumpsums as penalty every now and then,” another parcel office source requesting anonymity said, suggesting that it might be case of false declaration with parties bringing in some other ‘sensitive’ goods in the pretext of perishable goods like fish.

The source added that theconsignment was most likely to be gutkha hidden in boxes meant for fish, which was the modus operandi of groups smuggling banned tobacco products intothe State.