317 tickets seized worth Rs 6.28 lakh
To curb touting activities during the festive season special teams of Western Railway conduct surprise checks and arrested people involved in such activities. The teams arrested 24 touts and seized 317 tickets worth 6.28 lakh in raids conducted at various stations.
WR’s special teams of dedicated staff from RPF’s Crime branch under Operation Tatkal conduct checks in Mumbai, Surat, Indore, Vadodara, Ujain, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Ratlam and other stations. These raids were conducted to curb touting activities by unscrupulous elements in view of complaints against touts regarding misuse and blocking of tatkal for higher premium from innocent passengers due to gap in demand and supply in festivals season and 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 WR CPRO Ravinder Bhakar, 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 and 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. Such drives will be regularly planned in future by RPF against touts as commitment to passengers from WR.