RailEnquiry

Eager to meet his doting parents in Kolkata, techie Sanjoy Das reached K R Puram railway station at 7:30 am on Thursday to buy a train ticket through Tatkal scheme.Thinking that he was an early bird, he was confident of getting a ticket. The reservation counter opened at 10 am. By the time his turn came,he was told at the counter that Tatkal tickets were sold out. Not only was he shocked but also dejected as his two-and-a-half hours wait went in vain.
    Sanjoy’s is not an isolated case in railway stations across Bangalore city. There are hundreds of others who return home disappointed after losing the battle to the touts who operate with great impunity everyday. The moot question is: Why have the railway personnel turned a blind eye?
    When BANGALORE MIRROR posed the same question to S Louis Amuthan, senior divisional security commissioner (Railway Protection Force, Bangalore Sub-division), he replied: “We will crackdown on touts.” Instead of settling for an assurance we insisted that we join the RPF personnel during the raids. As decided, the Bangalore Mirror team joined a team of 20 RPF personnel led by Louis at 6:30 am at the railway administrative centre in Majestic after a directive from SWR divisional railway manager Anil Kumar Agarwal. Louis briefed his men: “This operation is against touts who will be blocking Tatkal booking counters. Let us start.” Everyone boarded a bus and headed to the booking counter at City Railway Station. BM recounts what happened:
7 AM: CITY RAILWAY STATION, MAJESTIC
    There were already 15 people waiting in the queue. Most of them had come in the wee hours even before other railway staff arrived. Louis said: “Usually, touts block the first few slots in the queue by arriving there the previous night. When the actual Tatkal ticket seekers arrive in the morning before the counter opens, these touts either sell the slots for a commission or sell the tickets at a premium. We check the authenticity of those in the queue by directing them to furnish their identity proof.” As planned, the RPF personnel instructed everyone to furnish their identity cards. Two of the early-birds did not have any identity card. When they failed to provide a convincing reply, they were taken to RPF station.
7:30 AM: MALLESWARAM RAILWAY STATION
    Here the scene was a bit different. Touts had reserved their slots in the queue by placing kerchiefs and helmets on the chairs — similar to how people throw towels into crowded buses to get a seat! Loius said: “These guys come early in the morning, place helmets and go away to come back minutes before the booking counter opens.” This apart, when the RPF personnel checked the 20-odd people in the queue for their identity cards,two failed the test. In fact, one of them carried a Tatkal ticket bought for Chennai the previous day. The name on the ticket and the identity card that he carried mismatched. He was taken to Yeshwanthpur station for further inquiry.
7:45 AM: YESHWANTHPUR RAILWAY STATION
    When the RPF team entered the premises of the reservation counter more than 35 people had gathered there. Though everyone possessed identity cards the raid was marked by some drama when 27-year-old Basheer was trying to book a ticket to Jharkhand holding a different identity card. When confronted, he said: “I am booking a ticket for my uncle. This is his identity card.” Not wanting to take chances, the RPF personnel took his uncle’s phone number from him and dialled the latter for confirmation, which the latter affirmed.
8:15 AM: CANTONMENT RAILWAY STATION
    It was high-voltage action here when the RPF personnel alighted from their bus and stormed into the station. While a majority of the passengers wondered what was happening, four persons tried to flee from the place. However, the alert personnel chased and caught them. The reservation forms they had filled and their identity cards did not match — a pointer to the fact that they were buying tickets under false names. A RPF personnel said: “Most of these touts buy tickets under common names and later sell them to passengers who are desperate to board the train.”
9:15 AM: K R PURAM RAILWAY STATION
    This is one station where people would have formed a queue for a Tatkal ticket even before the booking section is unlocked. Quite a number of touts operate here and their major clients are the techies living in the Marathalli-Mahadevapura area. “These touts block the first few slots in the queue and sell the same for a commission of Rs 200-250. Many people are ready to pay the touts as that rids them of wasting time in the queue,” a railway official said. However, when the RPF team landed there, the regular operatives had disappeared. “They must have got a tip-off from fellow touts who operate in other stations,” remarked an RPF personnel. The catch was small: Two persons with different identity cards.
258 TOUTS ARRESTED IN 2012
In 2012, a total of 258 touts were arrested and penalties to the tune of Rs 12 lakh were collected. Tickets worth Rs 5.37 lakh were forfeited. From January 1 this year till date, 68 persons have been detained for touting activities and Rs 78,000 fine has been collected.
‘GATHERING VIDEO EVIDENCE ON TOUTS’
S Louis Amuthan, senior divisional security commissioner (Railway Protection Force – Bangalore Sub-division) gave us a run down of the measures taken to check touts. He said: “We have started videographing the queue at reservation centres to gather evidence so that the same person doesn’t come back and purchase tickets. First time offenders are fined Rs 5,000 and repeated offenders will be fined Rs 10,000. Soon, we will install CCTV cameras in all reservation centers to prevent touts. We are conducting raids on a daily basis, which start by 5 am, with two teams headed by our sub-inspectors S Ullas and M Bhuminathan. The response is good from many passengers also. We are making all efforts to ensure that touts do not enter the railway station. We will also be increasing vigil at the railway reservation centres in Jayanagar and MG Road.