Pune: Fraudster arrested for sending fake messages of confirmed railway tickets, making money
Pune: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrested a thug, who was financially cheating railway passengers by sending fake messages of confirmed railway tickets.
The accused has been identified as Pravinkumar Madhukar Londhe, a resident of Gotkhindi, taluka Walwa. The police were investigating the number of people he might have cheated.
Action was taken at the Pune Railway Station on Monday (December 23). The fraud was revealed when two persons got the same seat in Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum Express.
According to the RPF, Londhe used to watch people struggling to get railway tickets at the railway station. He would seek their details such as names and mobile phone numbers on the pretext of helping them get railway tickets. Then he would send a ticket confirmation message on their mobile phone numbers. He used to take money for this.
In reality, he would allot a seat to a passenger, which was already given to a passenger by the railways. Thus, two passengers used to get the ticket confirmation message. They would then fight over the seat. Londhe would disappear then.
Jhelum Express TTE GS Rajapure suspected the fraud. He conveyed it to the railway administration. An investigation squad comprising RPF Inspector Sunil Kumar Yadav, Santosh Jaibhaye, Yuvaraj Gaikwad and a cyber cell expert was formed. They nabbed Pravinkumar Londhe on the basis of messages sent from his mobile phone.
Londhe cheated a passenger on December 12 in the same manner. An offence was registered against him under sections 316 (2), 318 (4) of the BNS. PSI Nazre was investigating the matter.
Detection of the fraud
Londhe sent a message to a passenger, which had details such as PNR number 8451236947, train number 11077, Jhelum Express, date of journey December 17, 2024, sleeper class, Pune to New Delhi, passenger Deependra and one more, seat numbers S2-63 and S2-71, total journey fare Rs 1,980 and agent charge, etc.
After receiving the confirmation message, Londhe took Rs 2,000 from the passenger. But another passenger already occupied the seat. They quarrelled over the seat. Both claimed that the seat was allotted to them. The matter went to the TTE. He checked both tickets and found that Deependra’s ticket was fake.
