Western Railway has been conducting special drives and raids against touts, luring innocent passengers and charging exorbitant illegal commissions.
Taking intensive action against touts, special drives have been regularly conducted by Western RailwayтАЩs Railway Protection Force (RPF) in all six Divisions. This has resulted in seizure of e-tickets as well as journey-cum-reservation tickets worth approximately Rs. 2.18 crores.
It is worthwhile to mention that Sanjay Chander тАУ Director General of Railway Protection Force, Railway Board appreciated the noteworthy results achieved by RPF WR from these special drives against touts. In his letter of appreciation, Chander also mentioned that the successful execution of such drives boosts the confidence of the general public in the Railway system. He encouraged the RPF team of Western Railway to continue the efforts and conduct many such drives in the future also.
According to a press release issued by Sumit Thakur тАУ Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, RPF WR formed special teams of dedicated staff from the Detective Wing of RPF Crime Branch, Cyber Cell and Divisions to launch special drives against touts. It was observed that touts were booking tickets using several fake identity cards, including some authorized IRCTC agents who used fake IDs and illegal software to issue tickets, thereby charging extra money from innocent passengers. In 2021, RPF WR arrested 824 persons in 684 cases of touting and seized total 19,268 tickets worth approx. Rs. 2.18 Crore.
Thakur also stated that apart from such regular drives for arrest and prosecution of touts, RPF WR has also conducted several awareness campaigns for sensitizing the public to discourage purchasing tickets through illegal touts. The campaign also aimed to educate passengers regarding the legal provisions of section 143 of the Railways Act and the consequences of buying tickets/e-tickets from touts.
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Published on: Thursday, March 24, 2022, 11:04 PM IST
