CBI TECHIE HELD FOR SUBVERTING RAILWAYS RESERVATION SYSTEM
How do some travel agents manage to book confirmed railway tickets under Tatkal category, while thousands of passengers make unsuccessful bids on their computers or at reservation counters?
Well, it seems it is all programmed. A software programmer of the anti-corruption agency CBI is alleged to be the brain behind one such illicit software which subverted the railways reservation system, allowing the agents to book hundreds of Tatkal tickets at a single click of mouse, officials said here on Wednesday, reports PTI.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested its assistant programmer Ajay Garg and his front, Anil Gupta, for developing and distributing the software to agents for a price, agency spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.
Besides Garg and Gupta, the agency has booked 13 others, including Garg's family members and travel agents. Garg's parents, wife, sister and brother-inlaw were allegedly instrumental in making collections from travel agents using his software, it said.
The money from the travel agents who booked tickets using his system was collected in bitcoins and through hawala channels to avoid scrutiny, he said, adding that 10 agents – seven from Jaunpur and three from Mumbai – have been identified in this connection so far.
"The case is in line with our policy of having a robust internal mechanism of ensuring probity and having a zero tolerance towards corruption," CBI Director Alok Verma said.
The ticket bookings under Tatkal quota open at 10 am for AC class and 11 AM for non-AC coaches for the trains departing next day. Under the quota, a fixed number of seats, in each coach, are sold at a premium by the railways to travellers who need tickets urgently.
A common complaint of passengers is that by the time they enter details on the IRCTC website or complete booking process, seats under Tatkal quota gets full within minutes of start of the booking. Their bookings are either rejected or they get a wait-listed ticket that too at a very steep prices.
Some travel agents offer to provide confirmed tickets under the quota by charging premium, over and above railways prices.
The arrest of Garg and Gupta has exposed the alleged software trickery used by them to exploit the vulnerabilities of IRCTC ticket booking system, they said.
Thirty-five-year-old software engineer Garg had joined the CBI in 2012 through a selection process and has been working as an assistant programmer. Earlier, he had served with IRCTC, which handles ticketing system of the railways, between 2007 and 2011.