A Railway ticket counter employee at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) has been suspended after mid-day's undercover investigation revealed a network of touts operating at the station, offering confirmed seats in exchange for money.
Reporters talking to the touts to get a ticket
The Railway officials have suspended a ticket counter employee at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) after he was suspected of colluding with agents to issue tickets on their behalf. The officials reviewed CCTV footage from LTT and identified Wagh (first name not disclosed), the employee at counter number 4, as being involved in the scheme. Based on this evidence, the Railway officials took immediate action and suspended Wagh.
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On November 1, mid-day conducted an undercover investigation at LTT, posing as passengers attempting to board the Kushinagar Express from LTT to Gorakhpur. The investigation revealed a network of touts cheating passengers by offering them confirmed seats in the general compartments of the Kushinagar Express.
Agent Jeet Singh; (right) the man who introduced himself as manager
During the investigation, mid-day reporters encountered several touts, including one named Jeet Singh, who approached them with an offer to provide confirmed seats in exchange for payment. Singh promised to secure a seat in the general compartment of the Kushinagar Express for Rs 700 per passenger. The reporters paid Rs 2,100 in total, and Singh bypassed the long queue at ticket counter number 4 to issue tickets for them. The entire incident was captured on CCTV.
In response to the investigation, Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM), Dhirendra Singh told mid-day: “We have suspended Wagh, who was present at counter number 4, after reviewing the mid-day report and CCTV footage. We thoroughly examined the CCTV footage, and based on the evidence gathered, we decided to suspend the employee.”
“We are also investigating the involvement of other ticket counter employees with these agents,” DCM Singh added.
mid-day’s investigation also exposed Jeet Singh, who collected Rs 2,100 from the reporters and issued three general tickets at counter number 4. The investigation revealed that the ticket counter employees might be collaborating with agents, issuing tickets to them while bypassing the long lines of waiting passengers.
mid-day also captured footage of 10-15 touts operating at LTT, deceiving passengers with promises of confirmed seats in the general compartments of the Kushinagar Express.
During the investigation, mid-day found that these touts were looting the passengers to give confirmed seats in the general compartment on the Kushinagar Express train. These touts were charging Rs 700 per passenger including the ticket cost of Rs 415. Agent Jeet Singh claimed that he had to pay Rs 100 to the ticket counter employee.
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