RPF nabs teacher-turned-tout selling illicit train tickets

Mumbai: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Central Railway apprehended a teacher on Friday who had allegedly ventured into the illicit business of an unregistered travel agency

Mumbai: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Central Railway apprehended a teacher on Friday who had allegedly ventured into the illicit business of an unregistered travel agency. The accused, identified as Rupesh Mahajan, 31, was found purchasing online train tickets and touting them at a premium, particularly targeting passengers heading to ‘theerth staan’ or places of worship.

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The raid in Dombivli resulted in the seizure of 139 ‘live’ tickets valued at ₹5.56 lakh. According to sources, tickets are called “live” because the journey in different trains is yet to be undertaken and completed. The RPF also seized 13 train tickets worth ₹37,289 from Mahajan whose date of journey had ended.

Investigations revealed that Mahajan, who taught in private coaching classes, had expanded his activities to selling train tickets without registering as a tour and travel agency. “He had created nine different user IDs that belonged to his family members. He used to purchase train tickets well in advance from the website for his clients. Most of these tickets were of trains that took travel groups to cities and towns that are home to places of worship,” said a CR official.

Although he was not using any external software to rig the booking process, rail authorities said as per rules, a private user can book around 10 Passenger Name Records (PNRs) a month for personal use, their family members, and friends. In this case, he was running it as a business and got caught. In addition to the seized tickets, the RPF recovered an iPhone 13 phone and an Acer laptop.