Daijiworld News Network - Udupi (GA)

Udupi, Mar 22: A travel agent who was found selling Konkan railway tickets in black has been arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Monday March 20.

The arrested Prashanth Patil, son of Ramchandra Patil of Kabyady near Parkala here is running a travel agency "C B Travels" at Manipal. He is said to have been buying tickets two or three months before and then sell them to the passengers at a higher rate. The police have also seized railway tickets worth Rs 12,000 from him.

With Prashanth's arrest the railway police have achieved a major breakthrough in tracking the black market which has largely been the cause for artificial scarcity of railway tickets.  So the passengers who were in need of tickets would resort to private agents and brokers who would sell the ticket at a higher price than its actual value.

The railway police obtained a clue about this racket a long ago but were not able to track down anyone. However, RPF sub inspector Manoharan received a sure tip off about Prashanth whom he arrested on Monday.  Speaking to reporters, Manoharan said that railway police will continue to track down this racket which has caused untold problems for the public.