Central Railway has intensified its crackdown on fraudulent travel after three passengers were caught using fake UTS-generated season tickets on an AC local train. The incident took place on November 28, when Prashant Kamble, a Travelling Ticket Inspector (TTI) from the Mumbai Division, detected irregularities during a routine ticket check on the 18.45 Parel–Kalyan AC local.
Kamble grew suspicious when a young woman and two young men produced tickets saved in the “My Files–Documents” folder on their mobile phones instead of opening them through the official UTS app. Upon examination, all three tickets displayed the same UTS number, XOOJHN4569, despite having different passenger details, a clear violation since each UTS ticket carries a unique identification number.
Verification with the ticketing system confirmed that no tickets had been issued to the mobile numbers provided by the passengers, establishing that the tickets were fake. The three individuals, identified as Niraj Talreja, Atharv Baag and Aditi Manglurkar, were handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Kurla. A subsequent investigation revealed that the fraudulent tickets had been generated using artificial intelligence tools.
An FIR has been registered against the trio under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, 2023, including Sections 318/2, 336/3, 336/4, 340(1), 340(2) and 3/5, which carry penalties of fines and imprisonment of up to seven years.
Central Railway lauded Kamble’s alertness, noting that his vigilance has once again helped expose a growing fake-ticketing racket. Authorities urged passengers to purchase tickets only from authorised sources, railway booking counters, ATVMs or the official UTS mobile app, and warned that strict action will be taken against anyone found travelling on forged tickets.
