Mumbai, Aug. 7 -- For commuters on the Western Railway's suburban network, the risks of travelling ticketless will rise exponentially in the coming days as all ticket checkers (TCs) will get protective vests with body cameras and microphones, which will enable them capture videos of rule violators as well as record evidence in case of an assault by ticketless commuters, like it happened in Borivali last Saturday. On Wednesday, a prototype of the vest was unveiled during one of the largest fortress checking drives at Borivali station as one TC sported the black-coloured vest with multiple pockets to store penalty receipt booklets and hand-held terminals for checking e-tickets. "The vests will improve operational readiness and safety of TCs as body cameras and microphones will capture every move while they are on duty and help collate evidence in case of untoward incidents," said a Western Railway official, requesting anonymity. The decision to provide protective vests to nearly 800 TCs in WR was taken after the incident in Borivali on August 2, when an irate, ticketless commuter allegedly assaulted a TC and damaged government property, said sources. The fortress checking drive at Borivali on Wednesday, titled 'Namaste Abhiyan', was also organised in light of the August 2 incident, the sources added. Generally, fortress checks involve 50-60 TCs who fan out across the premises of a single station with the aim of nabbing ticketless travellers and levying fines worth Rs.2-3 lakh. But on Wednesday, 300 TCs were part of the fortress check at Borivali, in addition to around 50 railway police personnel. The drive commenced at 6am, with the TCs and policemen dispersed across the station premises, including 10 platforms and all foot over bridges and elevated decks. By 5pm, they had nabbed 5,192 ticketless travellers and collected fines worth Rs.13.5 lakh. The drive continued till 10pm. "This was probably the largest fortress checking drive that we initiated at a particular railway station," said the WR official quoted earlier. "It was aimed at instilling a dignified, efficient, and technology-backed ticket checking culture that ensures zero tolerance to ticketless travel while maintaining the highest standards of passenger interaction and discipline." During the drive, certain areas within the station were earmarked as pre-custody areas, and ticketless, unruly commuters were detained there instead of being taken to the offices of the ticket checking staff to ensure there was no overcrowding at the offices....