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Fake TTE caught at Ambala Cantt got the idea from Kanpur gang
The 23-year-old completed his civil engineering from a college in Patna and to execute his plan, he came to Chandigarh in August
Almost a week after a Bihar-man, Pankaj Kumar, was arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) for allegedly posing as a travelling ticket examiner (TTE), the investigators have established that he was the mastermind of a gang and was inspired by another gang of fake TTEs from Kanpur.
The Kanpur gang was busted in June at Kanpur Central Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh, where 16 men were arrested for possessing fake railway ID cards.
“Pankaj, too, started working on the idea in June during his stay in Patna. He read about the Kanpur gang online and downloaded apps to prepare designs for fake ID cards,” said sub-inspector Vilayati Ram, station in-charge, GRP Ambala Cantonment.
Civil engineer with cyber knowledge
According to the police, Pankaj, 23, completed his civil engineering from a college in Patna and to execute his plan, he came to Chandigarh in August.
The SHO said, “He has good cyber knowledge. In Chandigarh, he met an old friend, Jyoti Prakash, 22, who works in a private company in Baddi. The duo had taken some coaching together in Bihar.”
On August 23, Pankaj was arrested from Ambala Cantt Railway Station with fake ID card and other documents after several passengers of Kalka-Howrah mail express had complained about a group boarding the train from Chandigarh station in full uniform who appeared to be fake.
He was sent to seven-day police remand and during interrogation, he revealed about the involvement of Prakash, who was also arrested and sent to judicial custody on August 26.
On Tuesday, Pankaj was presented before a railway court and sent to judicial custody.
Police claimed that they had also recovered a printer and other documents from a village in Panchkula on the Himachal border.
He is a minor: family
Meanwhile, speaking to Hindustan Times, Kumar’s father pleaded his son’s innocence and claimed that he was a minor. Their counsel Kamal Jassi said that his school documents with his date of birth had been submitted before the court. The SHO said the details will be verified from his school as and when received.
