Mumbai: WR police drives traps 71 persons selling illegal tickets in May

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of WR apprehended 71 individuals involved in illegal ticket selling, marking a significant breakthrough in their ongoing efforts in May 2023. In a proactive effort to combat ticket touting and protect innocent passengers, Western Railway had undertaken a series of special drives and raids.

"Western Railway has been conducting special drives and raids against touts luring innocent passengers with waitlisted tickets and charging exorbitant illegal commissions. In current month tickets worth ₹26,61,310 journey tickets were seized in 63 cases and 71 offenders were arrested," said spokesperson of Western Railway.

Police swoops down on accused

According to Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, in a special drive against touts conducted by WR’s Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Mumbai Division, a tout was apprehended at Andheri station (Saki Naka area) on May 15, 2023 with 14 Window Tickets. "WR’s RPF received information regarding illegal selling of railway tickets in Saki Naka area of Mumbai. A joint team of RPF and Vigilance Department. was formed to nab the culprits. The team apprehended one accused Alim Khan. Upon further interrogation, Alim Khan revealed that he carries this illegal activity along with one Afzal Nafis Khan, a resident of Saki Naka and that tickets were bought from remote PRS counters in the states of Sikkim, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. On the basis of the information given by Alim Khan, Afzal Nafis Khan was apprehended on May 22, 2023 from Saki Naka" further stated Thakur.

Forging Railway Tickets

According to Thakur, further investigation of Afzal Nafis Khan revealed that he was forging railway tickets by hiding the code mentioned on rail tickets by using a graphic design software. He also gave a demo of how he was printing these tickets. The RPF of Andheri informed the city police and a case has been registered against him. Further, Rashid Khan and one Anwar Shah were also arrested in this case.

Sumit Thakur emphasized the railway's commitment to tackling ticket touting and protecting the rights of passengers. Thakur lauded the joint efforts of the RPF, Vigilance Department, apprehending the offenders and cracking down on the illegal ticket selling operation