WR busts ticket racket, two held

MUMBAI, February 28: In one of the biggest seizures in Mumbai, the vigilance department of the Western Railway recently nabbed a gang of unauthorised agents and confiscated tickets worth Rs 75,000 and over 300 cancelled tickets.

The agents, S P Group of Tours and Travels, catered to tourists mainly from Gujarat after charging a premium of Rs 50 per ticket to Ahmedabad and Gandhidham. Shailesh and Paresh Chinubhai Shah are the owners of the agency.The Shahs engaged over 20 touts who operated at the reservation counters at Virar and Borivli. The WR received a tip-off early in February that the Shahs had arranged a return trip for a group of 400 from Ahmedabad, according to D K Gupta, the Senior Deputy General Manager Vigilance of WR. However, the news was leaked to Shahs who immediately cancelled 400 tickets, almost half the train8217;s capacity.

On February 19 the agents were caught red-handed by team of local police and railway officials.

Later, 107 valid tickets worth Rs 75,000, 337 cancelled ticketsand 51 filled requisition forms were seized. Two agents Bhawesh and Shailesh Shah have been remanded to police custody.