Railway ticket blackmarketing racket busted; two held
According to RPF officials, the accused were working in collusion with staff from smaller railway reservation centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. A total of 80 tatkal (immediate) tickets worth ₹1.34 lakh had been booked under the names of 20 individuals. These tickets were procured from various reservation counters across Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, they said.
With the arrest of two accused near the parcel office at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, the crime branch of Railway Protection Force (RPF) has busted a racket involved in blackmarketing of railway tickets transported via air cargo, officials said on Tuesday.
Prashant Singh Yadav, sub-inspector of the RPF crime branch, led the operation, which was carried out in coordination with a joint task force, they added.
According to RPF officials, the accused were working in collusion with staff from smaller railway reservation centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. A total of 80 tatkal (immediate) tickets worth ₹1.34 lakh had been booked under the names of 20 individuals. These tickets were procured from various reservation counters across Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, they said.
Instead of being delivered in person, the tickets were sent to Lucknow via cargo flights. Upon interception, the RPF team recovered one original ticket and photocopies of 19 others. All had been pre-booked by middlemen and issued from different locations in southern India, officials said.
Apart from the tickets, two mobile phones, a scooter, and a motorcycle were also recovered from the accused, they added.
The accused have been identified as Mohammad Kaif, son of Israr Ahmed, and Gaurav alias Prince, son of Ram Chandra -- both residents of Sanjay Nagar in the Bazaarkhala police station area in Lucknow, officials said.
Further investigations revealed the involvement of additional individuals, including a Mumbai-based travel agent, Manish Kamdar, and Mayur Ganesh. Mohammad Shaban, a resident of Lucknow, is also under the scanner, along with several employees of cargo services and agents operating from southern India. RPF has launched a manhunt to track down other members of the syndicate, officials added.
