Many cases found in last few days; officials probing how fake codes are generated
The fake QR code and ticket the woman was using
With still no clarity on the QR codes for travelling in locals, railway police and ticket-checkers are now increasingly finding cases of fraud and impersonation. The latest incident involved a woman using a fake QR code to travel on a local. While the woman was detained with charges framed against her, the police are now on the lookout for how fake codes are being generated.
As per details available, a 21-year-old woman was caught at Borivli station during checking of QR codes. Ticket checkers found that the code did not sync with the database. The woman, a resident of Nalasopara, works with an electronics shop in Marine Lines. She was handed over to GRPF by the ticket checkers, who have registered a case against her.
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At present, only emergency and essential services staffers along with employees of nationalised banks and some other Union government bodies like MbPT, are allowed to travel in locals in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This reflects the desperation of Mumbaikars, especially those who stay in far-off suburbs, to continue their daily lives despite the odds. The government must think of all people and not just essential or government staff," Subhash Gupta, member of National Railway Users Consultative Committee said.
Himanshu Vartak, a consultative member of Palghar railway station, said, "Private offices should make temporary arrangements for travel of their own staff and the state government should pump in more public transport modes. Many Mumbaikars in lower-income groups can't afford to travel by anything other than trains. They are then forced to buy fake QR code IDs. Culprits are selling them at Rs 1,200-1,400 in the market."
"We, as commuters, have already submitted 'Unlock Local' memorandum to the government. The main suggestions include staggered timings of government staff and slots for the public to get onboard trains. Precautions are necessary but not utilising local trains is not the solution," said Siddhesh Desai, vice-president of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.
A senior police official from the GRF said, "The ticket and code were checked at Borivli platform number 10 after which we first suspected it to be a fraud. The job title in the fake pass was that of a BMC computer operator at B ward office, which is in south Mumbai, whereas actually she works for a private electronics shop. The woman is a resident of Palghar and our teams are now investigating how and where these QR codes are generated."
So far about 1,300 irregular and without ticket travellers and 25 fake ID cases have been detected and a total of Rs 3,50,000 has been collected as a fine.
'COVID-19 died of suffocation'
Kasara local on Friday evening
Local trains took a hit on Friday due to heavy monsoon. With several trains delayed or cancelled, a huge crowd was witnessed in trains and on stations during rush hour on Central Railway (CR).
Deepak Dubey, a project manager with Health Management Information System sharing pictures of jam-packed Kasara local said, "I believe the novel Coronavirus has died of suffocation in this Mumbai local. A thorough check for all issued ID cards is needed and the government office timings need to be reshuffled. Since last week, the crowd has been increasing at a very fast rate." A CR spokesperson said there were a few delays due to monsoon, but the situation normalised by late evening.
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