lucknow the festive season has come knocking and passenger traffic will increase in the coming months the people will return back to their native places with their earnings to be with their families on festivals this is the time when zaharkhurans get active each yearrailway authorities have started an awareness campaign we always advertise this issue for the benefit of passengers said a railway official though rpf officials could not be reached for comments the grp officials said that they are vigilant against dubious looking people moving on the stations we will also put extra security on trains that have been identified for the crime said jai prakash singh co railwaysbut awareness among the passengers is the most potent tool to ward off zahar khurans the railways displays hoardings and advertisements telling passengers to keep people who act friendly during travel at bay even if the latter have no harmful intention goodlooking welldressed people travelling as a family could also drug and rob zahar khurans target illiterate labourers from bihar who are on their way home with lots of money but this does not mean that welltodo people are safe there have been cases where educated travellers have been drugged in ac coachesas has been observed in numerous cases zahar khurans travel on reserved seats and in a gang of four to five people the gangs in trains and at stations remain in touch with each other they travel mostly without luggage and are also found boarding trains at unscheduled hours they have the ability to develop mental empathy and may offer anything from a space on their berth to food and drinks laced with drugs zahar khurans have impressive communication skills they are familiar with dialect and topography of the victims native place they in fact target passenger the moment latter boards the train they are mostly in the age group of 20 to 30 years targeting general and at times sleeper and ac coaches as well they can drug a person even through sprays cigarette smoke by injecting drug in water bottles of the victim or by numerous other ways like blowing the poisonous substance in the chewing tobacco the officials also warn against eating anything bought from unauthorised vendors at the station passengers can keep the threat at bay only if they act more cautious