Mumbai, Jan 09: In yet another case of ticket fraud, a fake UTS mobile local train pass was detected by ticket checking staff on a Western Railway suburban service on Friday morning.
According to railway officials, Deepika Murty, Chief Ticket Inspector (CTI) attached to the Sports Squad at Western Railway, was on day-shift duty between 7.00 am and 11.00 am on January 9, 2026, on the Churchgate–Virar route.
Suspicious pass flagged
At around 10.20 am, while checking tickets in the women’s first-class coach of an up fast local from Churchgate, shortly after the train departed Andheri Railway Station (Platform No. 7), Murty inspected the ticket of a woman passenger.
The passenger displayed a UTS AC local pass on her mobile phone, claiming it was valid from January 1 to January 31, 2026. However, the pass appeared suspicious, and the passenger reportedly gave evasive replies when questioned.
Fake pass confirmed
The woman was subsequently deboarded at Bandra Railway Station for further verification. After the details were checked with the control room, it was confirmed that the UTS pass was fake.
Accused identified
At the ticket checking office in Bandra, the woman was identified as Priti Sushil Gupta, a resident of Vasai West. She admitted that the pass was forged and stated that it had been created by her friend, Anuj Kishore Gupta, a resident of Kandivali, who had shared a fake UTS application with her via WhatsApp.
FIR registered
With the assistance of the Railway Protection Force, the accused was handed over to the Bandra GRP. An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against both the passenger and her friend. Further investigation is being carried out by the GRP.
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Rise in fake ticket cases
Railway officials noted that cases involving the use of fake tickets have increased significantly in recent months. Over the past three months, more than a dozen cases of forged or fake tickets have been detected across Western and Central Railway sections.
In response, the railways have also begun providing specialised training to ticket checking staff to identify such fraud more effectively.
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