Railways roots out illegal softwares used for booking

Days after busting a gang that was carrying out illegal ticketing operations in India and possibly siphoning off money for terror funding, the Railways Protection Force (RPF) on Tuesday said it has arrested a man who was in touch with members of the Islamic terror group, Jamat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JUMB).

RPF chief Arun Kumar on Tuesday said Jayanta Poddar alias Raju Poddar was arrested from Kolkata in an illegal ticketing racket.

A resident of Nadia, Poddar operated from Indo-Bangladesh border area.

“He was in contact with cattle smugglers, hawala operators, fake currency operators and fake passport and Aadhaar card makers,” an official said, adding that Poddar revealed that he was in touch with a known cadre of JUMB.

The gang was making roughly `15 crore a month by booking tickets using illegal software.

In the latest, the Railway Police has arrested 60 agents for using illegal software to book tickets and claims to have plugged major loopholes to prevent the use of this software by the touts.

The Railways has further said that after this crackdown it expects more tickets, particularly 'Tatkal’ to be available to the passengers.

These 60 agents allegedly blocked Tatkal tickets through illegal software within minutes of opening and generated business of `50 to `100 crore annually.

Proceeds of the crime were converted into crypto-currency and the money was routed through a web of financial transactions and Hawala.

Officials said that following the arrests, tatkal tickets would be available to passengers for a longer period compared to a minute or two earlier.

Citing examples of the fraud, the officer said that on October 26, 2019, tatkal tickets were available for two minutes for the Magadh Express but on February 10, following the arrests, tickets were available for over 10 hours since the bookings opened on February 9, 2020.

Similarly, on the Sampoorna Kranti Express, tatkal tickets were available for a little over four minutes on November 16, 2019, while on February 8, 2020, there were available for 18 minutes.

On the Swatantrata Senani Express, on November 16, 2019, the Tatkal bookings lasted for just a little over two minutes, while on February 8, it lasted for more than an hour.

60 AGENTS, who were arrested recently, blocked Tatkal tickets through illegal software within minutes of opening and generated business of `50 to `100 crore annually.