RPF steps up drive against touts of railway tickets in Daltonganj

The Railway Protection Force in Daltonganj has stepped up its ‘Operation Uplabdh’ against the touts of the railway reservation tickets whose network is strong and well-knit.

According to RPF inspector Banarasi Yadav, section 143 of the Indian Railway Act is against the touts of railway reservation tickets.

Section 143 reads that it is a punishable but bailable offence if a person is found carrying on the business of procuring and selling railway tickets in an unauthorized manner.

This section gives the right and power to the RPF to forfeit such illegally procured or sold tickets.

RPF Inspector Yadav said, “Very recently, we booked one person identified as Jitender Prasad (26) of Garhwa district who was found carrying on the business of procuring and selling of railway tickets quite unauthorized.”

Jitender Prasad was found carrying on his illegal business of the railway tickets under the auspices of Tours and Travels in ward number 10 of the Garhwa town where the RPF team had carried out a raid. They nabbed Jitender Prasad red-handed doing this unauthorised trading for the railway reservations tickets.

Yadav said the accused had no paper to prove his being a bonafide railway agent. “We forfeited 3 such illegally sold e-tickets, journey of which was not yet commenced,” the inspector said.

Asked that passengers who had bought these three tickets would now be in great trouble as a result of the forfeiting of these 3 tickets, to which Yadav said it is the responsibility of the passengers as well to have proper reservation tickets and not from such an agent who is unauthorised or unlicensed.

No agent can use his personal user email ID for procuring or selling or trading e-tickets as then it is a violation of section 143 of the Railway Act.

Sources said such unauthorised persons even queue for the railway reservations at the counter and manage reservation booking there for a heavy premium.

“We forfeited 2 such tickets bought at the railway booking counter from this man Jitender Prasad,” RPF Inspector Yadav said.

As the railways have a railway judicial magistrate court in Daltonganj, Jitender Prasad was remanded here, added the RPF Inspector.