King of fruits travels ticketless in Mumbai trains, railways launches mango hunt

The modus operandi of the train parcel fee-dodgers was to hand the boxes over to the onboard housekeeping staff working on a contractual basis

MUMBAI: On May 13, Western Railway (WR) auctioned 112 kg of mangoes at around ₹12,000, a fraction of the market rate at which the king of fruits sells. What a government transport agency was doing in the fruit auction bazaar centres around a typically Indian tale of jugaad.

King of fruits travels ticketless in trains

Acting on a tip-off about mangoes being illegally transported in long-distance trains, WR sent its teams out for an inspection. The onboard housekeeping staff, which was facilitating the process, was caught red-handed and the mangoes were confiscated. “Nearly 45 to 50 boxes of mangoes collected from different trains were auctioned in bulk at Borivali,” said a WR official. “As per our process, we auction perishable items.”

Sources said the mangoes were being taken out of Mumbai in premium trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jaipur Express and Avadh Express among others. The modus operandi of the train parcel fee-dodgers was to hand the boxes over to the onboard housekeeping staff working on a contractual basis.

“The senders would identify the onboard staffers taking a particular train,” explained a railway official. “What we understand is that they were being paid a few hundred rupees to hand the boxes over to the receiver at the destination station. We found the fruit was delivered to Surat, Ahmedabad and even Delhi.” The boxes would be safely stored by the staff inside the linen cabinet of the train. The sender and staff would exchange numbers, which would also be shared with the receiver.

According to the railway authorities, the cost of sending parcels by train depends on the distance travelled and the weight of the parcel. Taking these calculations into account, if 10 kg of mangoes are deboarded at, say, Surat, it will cost a sender just over ₹11 per kg. “There is a possibility that the sender approached the parcel offices (which are also run on contract), which might have refused to take them,” said a WR official. “We are looking at all possibilities.”

Apart from the mangoes that were auctioned, WR also handed over some boxes to owners who showed evidence of purchase or those who came to receive them at Surat station. “We handed them over after levying fines,” said an official. “Some mango boxes are still at our station offices. We will continue our surprise checks throughout the month.”