Tout arrested by Railway Protection Force personnel on illegal ticketing charge

Bengaluru: In a proactive effort to curb illegal railway ticketing, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Satellite Goods Terminal, Whitefield, recently raided a firm in Narshapura, Kolar district, during which one person was found engaged in unauthorized procurement and sale of railway e-tickets.

Following the finding, he was served a summons under Section 180B of the Railways Act 1989, with instructions to appear before the Sub-Inspector, RPF/SGWF, for an enquiry.

He appeared as directed, and during questioning, he reportedly confessed to operating an unauthorized ticketing business.

He admitted to using multiple personal IRCTC user IDs to book railway e-tickets and selling them to customers on demand, charging a commission ranging from ₹200 to ₹300 per ticket.

The man is said to have voluntarily handed over a mobile phone used in the illegal activity, and upon examination, officials found four personal IRCTC user IDs and passwords linked to his email account.

The mobile device contained one live e-ticket valued at ₹2,335 and 15 completed journey e-tickets with a total value of ₹42,310, making the total ticket value seized at ₹44,645.

After following all legal procedures, the person was taken into custody, and a case was registered against him under Section 143 of the Railways Act, 1989 at Bengaluru Cantonment Post.

He was later released on self-surety bail bond under prescribed terms.

The raid and inquiry were conducted by Venkatesh Murthy, Sub-Inspector, RPF/SGWF, Asit Yadav, Constable, SGWF, and Subrata Mondal, Constable, SGWF, an official release from the South Western Railways has said.