Sleuths of the vigilance team of Central Railway, alongwith personnel of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Bhiwandi Road, and the IT Cell seized 43 tickets worth ₹79,375 following a raid at Om Ticket & Mobile Store in Thane.
The raids at the store near Triveni Sangam Apartment in Kaneri, Bhiwandi, was conducted on Monday night on the basis of a tip off that a tout was selling tickets there.
Two persons held
Two persons were held during the raids, with the officials seizing 32 live e-tickets valued at ₹64,295 and 11 used e-tickets worth ₹15,062.
The two accused, Dilip Mohanlal Gupta (38) and Vijay Mohanlal Gupta (39), admitted that they procured and sold railway e-tickets from private IDs at premiums of ₹100 to ₹200 per passenger by using email IDs generated by them with fake names.
This is not the first case of its kind. As many as 1,71,259 tickets valued at ₹34,79,59,772 were seized by Western and Central Railway RPF from April 2022 to March 2023. Around 875 cases were registered in this connection and more that 950 people were arrested by RPF of the two railway zones in 2022-2023.
“The use of illegal software and fake email IDs for cornering confirmed railway reservations online had adversely affected the availability of confirmed tickets to the common man. The RPF has been undertaking intensive and sustained action in a mission mode under the code name 'Operation Uplabdh' against persons involved in touting (unauthorized carrying on of the business of procuring and supply of railway tickets),” said a senior railway official, who also confirmed the development of Monday night.
Increasing demand-supply gap
Indian Railways faces a high demand for seats and berths, especially during the summer rush and other festive occasions. The demand-supply gap has widened over the years despite capacity augmentation by Indian Railways and this has led to mushrooming of many touts who use different means to corner reserved seats and then sell them to the needy at a premium,” said the official.
RPF teams have conducted raids on the basis of data received from cyber cells and other inputs, mostly at the premises of private travel agencies, according to a senior Western Railway official.
“The RPF of Central Railway and Western Railway will continue the campaign against touts to counter the menace of railway tickets being sold in an illegal manner and to safeguard the interest of bona fide passengers,” he said.
The campaign also aims to educate passengers regarding the provisions of Section 143 of the Railways Act and the consequences of buying tickets from touts.
“The Railways appeals to passengers to travel with valid railway tickets and not to buy tickets from people involved in online e-ticketing as they will not be able to travel if their tickets are blocked following legal action,” said a senior railway official.
