Thane: Milk vendor held for black marketing of long-distance railway tickets

Thane: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Dombivali on Sunday raided a milk dairy near the railway station on the eastern side and arrested the milk vendor, Sunil Dubey, for black marketing of long distance railway tickets.

They seized 94 tickets worth ₹1.68 lakh. Action was taken on the orders of Railway Commissioner of Police Rishi Shukla.

Railway tickets sold in black market

An RPF officer said the rush for reserved train tickets peaks just before the summer season as people travel to their villages after the new school session starts. The rush for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is the most, he said, adding that travellers find tickets are already reserved even before their turn comes at the booking window. The official said that they had received several complaints from potential passengers that tickets were getting booked within a few minutes of the ticket counter opening.

While investigating one such case, a team of the railway crime branch received a tip-off that railway tickets were being sold in the black market at a milk dairy near the railway station. The team conducted a surveillance and raided the dairy on Sunday. The probe revealed that Dubey was charging ₹500-₹1000 per ticket.

The crime branch team is interrogating Dubey on how many tickets he has sold so far and about his accomplices and modus operandi.