RailPost Bureau
October 28, 2019
Twenty four touts were arrested and 317 tickets were seized
worth Rs 6.28 lakh in raids conducted by Western Railway’s (WR) special teams
of dedicated staff from RPF’s Crime branch under Operation Tatkal in
Mumbai, Surat, Indore, Vadodara, Ujain, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Ratlam etc. These
raids were conducted to curb touting activities by unscrupulous elements in
view of complaints against touts regarding misuse & blocking of tatkal for
higher premium from innocent passengers due to gap in demand & supply in
festivals season & vacations. Till now total 432 touts were arrested and
6623 tickets worth Rs 1.66 Cr have been seized from touts in various drives
against touts during the year 2019.
According to a press release issued by Shri Ravinder
Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, further data
are being retrieved from Seized PCs/ Laptops, which may lead to further
Seizures of e-tickets. It is pertinent to mention that touts are booking
tickets by using different fake IDs. Passengers/citizens have been alerted by
WR against the various modus operandi of touts through PA system, pasting of
sticker/poster, distributing pamphlets in train and premises. Awareness
campaigns have also been organized by WR to educate the passengers regarding
the legal provisions of section 143 of Railways Act & consequences of
buying tickets/ e-tickets from touts. For better service & assistance of
Passengers, such drives will be regularly planned in future by RPF against
touts as commitment of WR.