The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Western Railway has arrested and convicted 20 e-ticketing agents in just one day, all in the same Andheri jurisdiction
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Western Railway has arrested and convicted 20 e-ticketing agents in just one day, all in the same Andheri jurisdiction. The RPF team is behind such agents so that the people can get confirmed tickets from counters.
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According to RPF officials, these agents used to make fake IDs and were buying tickets to sell it in their price to the passengers. “Nowadays people are not able to get the tickets on counters or online because these agents also use a software to speed up the internet speed and, within seconds, they get the confirmed tickets, immediately after online reservation is opened,” said a RPF official. The RPF team has been catching such agents, and this time 20 e-ticket agents have been arrested within the Andheri RPF jurisdiction, which covers Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon and Malad.
Interestingly, among the 20 offenders, few are repeaters and all the agents have been selling tickets illegally from their paan shops, sweets shops, etc. The accused have been fined Rs 10,000 each and a day’s imprisonment. They were arrested under Section 143 (i) of the Railway Act on April 7.
Common man’s woes
Bunty Mishra from Dahisar has been trying to buy tickets from the last one month for the marriage he has to attend on April 22 in Varanasi, but he hasn’t got the ticket yet. “Its very difficult to get tickets confirmed. I have to travel with my wife, who is five-months pregnant, and hence we cannot go without confirmed ticket. Agents are asking for around Rs. 2,000-4000 per confirmed ticket,” said Mishra.
Official version
Anand Vijay Jha, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF, WR, said, “We have been doing all possible efforts to curb e-ticket touting. Seizure of tickets worth Rs 1.1 crore and timely conviction of culprits should help spread awareness among the potential customers and reduce their menace.”
Manish Singh Rathod, Inspector, RPF, Andheri, said, “We are behind such ticket agents because of whom normal people cannot get confirmed tickets. We are trying to catch them, and stop this illegal ticketing.”