It is estimated that, on average, each hoax bomb call costs the airline concerned Rs 3 crores in revenue losses. This is apart from the major inconvenience caused to passengers who have places to go to, jobs to do, important events to attend. No such calculations about the loss to the Railways and its passengers are available every time someone causes disruption by blocking the track in some way, but it also must be considerable. Sometimes there are also derailments causing loss of life.
If this such actions are being done as part of a design, it is a very economic way of causing harm to the nation’s economy – war by other means. With India’s economy and infrastructure getting larger and more interrelated, damage done at one place can cause harm in distant parts of the network. As such, any possible conspiracy will need to be investigated and effectively countered. Also, awareness needs to be generated among the public regarding their responsibility to prevent such acts at the ground level, because the police cannot be everywhere all the time.
It must also be investigated that, if it is not planned activity, what instigates individuals to perform such acts. Why would anyone, for instance, throw stones at a train knowing fully well it could cause serious harm? Is there a sense of alienation or disconnect in certain categories of people that leads them to resent what are essentially symbols of growth and prosperity? It is important for investigative agencies, psychologists, sociologists, etc., to try and understand the motivations of those who have been caught committing such crimes. Suitable responses and corrective action can then be taken in the light of the information obtained.
Considering that sophisticated technology is required to make hoax bomb calls, it is not necessarily the simple-minded who are involved. In other parts of the world, such disruptive methods are often used to hold individuals and companies to ransom. This, too, is always a possibility. One reason why crime has become difficult to control in India is the extremely slow rate of conviction, allowing criminals a long rope to develop their expertise and expand the scope of their activity. Such delays, among other things, impact institutional memory, which is required to develop an integrated response. These warning signals should awaken the system to the developing challenge that can acquire even more dangerous proportions in the future.
