Noida man held for selling tatkal tickets in black

Police also said that during interrogation, the suspect was found with 88 e-tickets booked for upcoming days, valued at ₹1.55 lakh

A 47-year-old man was arrested on Monday by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for allegedly hacking the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) website and selling black-market tatkal tickets to Indian Railways passengers, earning nearly ₹30 Lakhs over the past two years, police said.

The suspect, identified as Moinuddin Chishti, originally from Aligarh and residing in Dadri, operated a railway e-ticketing shop in the area. (Representative Image)

The suspect, identified as Moinuddin Chishti, originally from Aligarh and residing in Dadri, operated a railway e-ticketing shop in the area.

According to officials, RPF Dadri received a tip-off from the Cyber Crime Wing, Prayagraj, indicating that a suspected mobile number in Dadri was being used for booking several tatkal tickets.

SK Verma, in-charge of RPF Dadri, said that the Cyber Crime Wing uncovered three illegal software tools used to generate personal user IDs on the IRCTC website.

“Tracing the IP address led us to Ayodhya Ganj, Dadri, Gautam Budh Nagar, where Chishti was arrested on Monday evening,” added Verma.

Police also said that during interrogation, the suspect was found with 88 e-tickets booked for upcoming days, valued at ₹1.55 lakh.

“The suspect has operated actively for the last two years, raking in ₹30 lakh through the sale of fraudulent e-tickets via website hacking. We have also recovered two laptops, one printer, a mobile phone, and cash,” the officer said.

The suspect was charged under Section 143 (Penalty for unauthorized carrying on of the business of procuring and supplying railway tickets) of the Railway Act. “He was presented before a magistrate, and subsequently sent to jail,” Verma said.