The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),probing the illegal booking of tickets for long-distance trains through unauthorised travel agents,has sought the help of the railway vigilance department in the matter. The effort,say the CBI officials,is to keep the surveillance on certain suspects among the railway officials who the agency believes are hand in glove with the touts. The probe started with the CBI registering offences against three travel agencies on July 25 and seizing 600 tickets and Rs 28.7 lakhs in cash. The searches across the travel agencies revealed that bogus identities are used to book bulk tickets for busy sectors. The investigation also found that while the status of the ticket booked through internet or reservation counters stands as in waiting list,seats and berths become available for the same route when purchased through the unauthorised agents for an extra amount. For now,the probe is relying on the details printed at the corner of every ticket giving information about the counter from where the ticket was booked,details of the staff and shift in which the ticket was purchased. The CBI,with the help of the railways vigilance department,has made considerable progress in matching the details with the muster at reservation counters at ticket windows across CST,Mumbai Central and Bandra. The surveillance on these railway officials has yielded some results. We will still wait to hear from the vigilance department and also do our separate probe, said a senior CBI official. Meanwhile,a separate probe is also in progress on the Railway Protection Force personnel who often facilitate easy access to the touts near the reservation counters. A CBI official said that the businessmen from the ticketing agencies are so meticulous in keeping accounts that they have maintained detailed log entries of the bribe offered to constables through their touts. Each entry corresponds with the name of the constable,the bribe amount with the time and date and the venue where it was given. This only makes our work easier. So far,the CBI has booked three travel agencies in the case: Mujahar Travels from Mumbai Central,Gupta Travels from Bandra East and AK Travels from CST.
