The railway authorities have unearthed a fake online ticket nexus being run in the city to dupe passengers boarding trains from the Ludhiana station.
Travel agent Ravi alias Bablu of Kirpal Nagar has been arrested in this regard. The police are scanning his computer and mobile phones to trace other members of the nexus.
The fraud came to light on Tuesday when labourer Pramod Yadav of Harkrishan Vihar Colony, along with his family, reached the Ludhiana railway station to board Shaheed Express train for Khalilabad in Uttar Pradesh. He had booked an e-ticket through the accused.
Before boarding, when Pramod showed the text message of his confirmed tickets for four seats in the train, the ticket checking staff found that there was no such booking as per the seat chart.
On verifying the PNR of Pramod’s train, it was found to be of Sachkhand Express and six people had already travelled on the said tickets on July 17. Following this, the railway staff did not allow the labourer to travel on the fake e-ticket. They summoned the ticket agent at the railway station and handed him over to the police.
The railway staff said they only scan tickets of passengers at the station during their entry at the platform as there are gag orders to not check tickets in running trains, owing to the pandemic.
{{/usCountry}}The railway staff said they only scan tickets of passengers at the station during their entry at the platform as there are gag orders to not check tickets in running trains, owing to the pandemic.
{{/usCountry}}Sub-inspector Kuldeep Singh, who is investigating the case, said the accused not only issued a fake e-ticket to the labourer but also overcharged him. He had charged ₹3,200 for four confirmed tickets, while the fare from Ludhiana to Khalilabad for four persons is ₹1,080.
A case under sections 420, 465, 467, 471, and 474 of IPC has been registered against the accused. The police are trying to trace other suspects involved in the crime, the SI added.