AGRA: In an unprecedented cleanliness drive, and perhaps, for the first time in India, Government Railway Police of Agra division has sent 109 persons to jail for 24 hours after they were found urinating on the railway property, including platform, tracks parking lot. They were later released after paying a fine ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 500 depending on the gravity of the act of creating a public nuisance according to a report published in ToI.

Disgusted with the stink of urine and ugly red pan stains due to spitting in every nook and corner at stations and other railway properties, senior superintendent of police, GRP, Gopeshnath Khanna ordered his men to conduct a drive against such miscreants and penalize them for public nuisance.

The drive was conducted over a 48-hour period across 12 stations of GRP, Agra division. As many as 109 people were taken in custody for urinating in public. Of these 27 were caught in the act on Friday.

Speaking to  TOI, Khanna said, "In a special drive conducted at several stations of Agra division, including Agra Cantt, Agra Fort, Idgah, Raja Ki Mandi and Tundla, 109 men were sent to jail for 24 hours and were penalized up to Rs 500 for urinating in public places on railway properties in front of women and children. They were also fined for creating public nuisance by consuming alcohol or spitting pan masala from the window of trains in public place.

"The drive is a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative of 'Swachh Bharat' campaign. The offenders were charged under Section 34 of the Police Act (Punishment for certain offences such as inconvenience, annoyance to passengers or residents in public places, roads, etc)," he added.

On Friday, 23 men were rounded up from Agra Cantt station, while three offenders were booked at Farrukhabad station and one at Kosi Kalan station, he said.

The SSP said, "The message behind such a drive is to convey people, that enough is enough. For more than six decades, our adamant social behavior has not changed. This city hosts millions of tourist every year, we just can't be negligent and irresponsible when comes to showing etiquettes in public fora."

Simultaneously, in another drive to zero in on criminal activities in Agra division, GRP personnel arrested 12 men in the past 24 hours from six different stations. Ten knives and six mobile phones were recovered from them. All the men arrested from Agra Cantt, Tundla, Farrukhabad, Khurja, Kannauj and Mathura were booked under the Arms Act 4/25, while six were booked under IPC section 411 (Dishonestly receiving stolen property).