Nagpur: A joint team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) and commercial division of Central railway seized 105 fake Aadhaar cards from passengers of two trains during a sweeping operation that ended in the early hours of Monday in the first of its kind action in Nagpur division. The recovery of substantial number of fake Aadhaar cards, prepared by 10 Nagpur-based agents, has also raised a national security threat.

The agents used to buy tickets in bulk on popular trains using fake IDs as soon as reservations opened four months in advance. They would then sell those tickets along with fake ID to needy passengers closer to day of travel at a premium of Rs 500 to Rs 1000 per ticket.

Railways collected a fine of Rs 1.17 lakh from passengers during the two raids that began at 6.35 pm on Sunday. During the action, 61 passengers from Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto and another 44 from Nagpur-Pune Garib Rath were pulled up for travelling without tickets after being found travelling with the fake IDs. About four months ago, railway’s special intelligence team had detected preparation of 90 e-tickets for November 3 travel within an hour. The suspected tickets became the grounds of joint raids.

RPF’s senior divisional security commissioner, South Eastern Central Railway (SECR), Ashutosh Pandey, told reporters Nagpur police would be alerted regarding ticketing agents preparing fake Aadhaar IDs too. “I have sent a report to Railway Board. We may also alert the state Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and other agencies,” he said. “Two teams of RPF SECR, CR and also commercial wing raided the trains,” said Pandey who was accompanied by assistant divisional security commissioner Amar K Swamy.

In order to avoid inconvenience and operational issues, passengers were allowed to continue their journey after paying fines. Their names and addresses have been recorded and shall be used as evidence against agents who now face prosecution. The operation was planned in a meticulous manner. Pandey requested help from senior deputy security commissioner Bhavani Shankar Nath of Central Railway and also senior divisional commercial manager, Central Railway, Krishnath Patil.

“Eight coaches of the Garib Rath express and the entire Duronto were checked. Garib Rath was checked till Badnera while our teams ended their operation in Duronto at Bhusawal,” said Pandey. RPF team cross-checked the numbers of Aadhaar cards and found them not matching with government’s records.

RPF inspector, settlement, Ganesh Garkal, PI SB Pagar, sub-inspectors Mohd Mughisuddin, Usha Bisen and their teams were part of the operation. SECR has arrested 67 persons between January and November seizing 2,751 tickets worth Rs 2.37 lakh.

