The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has rounded up 1459 touts during a month-long crackdown against the alleged black marketeers under ‘Operation Upalabdh.’ The drive was launched ahead of the rise in demand for reserved train tickets due to resumption of long distance train services in the country in post-pandemic period.
The demand for reserved train tickets usually soars during festivals and summer vacation in the month of March.
“Taking note of the input, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) geared up its efforts and launched a pan India drive against activities of touts throughout the country in the month of March 2022. The field units of RPF gathered inputs from the field, digital and cyber world, collated, verified and analysed information and started the drive across the nation from March 1, 2022,” a PIB release read.
Out of the total 1459 touts, 341 were authorised IRCTC agents who also indulged in touting of railway tickets. The process of blacklisting these IRCTC agents and blocking as many as 366 IRCTC agent IDs and 6751 personal Ids is being undertaken, the RPF said.
“The arrest of touts is about 3.64 times the figure of the previous month -February 2022. The tickets of future journey of value more than Rs 65 Lakhs collected by these touts illegally were recovered and blocked thus making these seats available to the bonafide passengers,” the release added.
The Indian Railways has advised common public not to procure tickets from unauthorised persons as it is not only likely to be forfeited once detected, but may also land the buyer in legal trouble. Operation Upalabdh by RPF against touts of railway tickets will continue in coming days as well.