Railways in India enlisted the help of the Hindu god of death to patrol tracks and pick up trespassers as part of a new safety awareness campaign.

India’s Western Railway, which serves Mumbai along with several other large cities, came up with a creative idea for teaching commuters not to risk their lives by jumping on tracks to save time while crossing to another platform.

They dressed up a Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer as Yamraj, or Yamaraja (Lord Yama), a Hindu god of death and justice. He is usually depicted in a helmet with buffalo horns. Armed with a traditional blunt mace (gada), he began patrolling the tracks and confronting trespassers.

“This Yamraj picks people to release them safely,” Western Railways wrote on Twitter.

अनाधिकृत रूप से पटरी पार ना करें, यह जानलेवा हो सकता है । अगर आप अनाधिकृत तरीक़े से पटरी को पार करते हैं तो सामने यमराज खड़े हैं ।मुंबई में पश्चिम रेलवे द्वारा आरपीएफ के साथ मिलकर 'यमराज' के कैरेक्टर के माध्यम से लोगों को जागरूक किया जा रहा है। pic.twitter.com/UM5O5OYQIR — Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) 7 ноября 2019 г.

“Those who will cross the tracks, I will take them with me,” ‘Yamraj’ could be heard saying in one of the videos published on social media.

अगर पटरी पार करोगे तो मैं तुम्हें अपने साथ ले जाऊँगा -said Yamraj during the awareness drive against Trespassing by RPF/WR in slum areas adjoining Railway tracks for saving precious lives&injuries to the people who trespass. पटरी पार करना खतरनाक ही नहीं अपितु कानूनन जुर्म भी है। pic.twitter.com/SdHytaaVn4 — Western Railway (@WesternRly) 7 ноября 2019 г.

Western Railways is one of the busiest railway systems in the country. A total of 721 people died while walking on Western Railway tracks and the adjacent Central Railway tracks between January and May this year.

The god of death has helped with awareness campaigns in the past. In 2015, traffic policemen in the city of Ranchi in the northwestern Jharkhand State dressed up as the deity to promote road safety. Last year, traffic police in Bangalore employed Yamraj to teach motorcyclists about the importance of wearing helmets.

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