Railways Protection Force arrests 14 touts, recovers tickets worth over Rs 6 lakh

New Delhi, May 21

The Railways Protection Force (RPF) has arrested 14 people, including eight IRCTC agents, for allegedly illegally selling e-tickets for special trains running on the Rajdhani route which began operations on May 12.

The arrests gain significance as the Railways is currently running only a fraction of its passenger services and, thus, only limited berths are available for passengers.

In a statement, the Railways said soon after it started the AC Special trains, and announced 100 pairs of additional trains, which are scheduled to run from June 1, complaints started pouring in regarding touts using multiple personal IDs and cornering reserved berths in these trains.

“It was also apprehended that once the reservation for the 100 pairs of trains started on May 21, the activities of these touts will escalate adversely affecting the availability of confirmed train reservations to the common man. In view of the above, the RPF has started concerted nationwide efforts to identify and act against these touts,” it said.

A drive was launched on May 20 and 14 touts, including eight IRCTC agents, were arrested. Tickets worth Rs 6,36,727 were recovered from them. PTI