Central Railway has strengthened its action against fraudulent ticketing after three commuters were found travelling on fake UTS-generated season tickets on an AC local train. The incident occurred on November 28 during the 6:45 pm Parel–Kalyan AC service, when Travelling Ticket Inspector (TTI) Prashant Kamble from the Mumbai Division noticed irregularities during a routine inspection. His suspicion grew after a young woman and two young men showed tickets stored in the “My Files–Documents” folder of their phones instead of opening them through the official UTS application. On further checking, all tickets displayed the same UTS number, XOOJHN4569, although they carried different passenger names, indicating clear forgery as each UTS ticket must have a unique identification number.
Further verification with the railway ticketing system confirmed that no valid tickets had been issued for the mobile numbers shared by the passengers. The individuals were identified as Niraj Talreja, Atharv Baag and Aditi Manglurkar, and were immediately handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Kurla station. Investigators later found that these forged tickets were created using artificial intelligence-based tools. An FIR was filed against the trio under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, 2023, including Sections 318/2, 336/3, 336/4, 340(1), 340(2), and 3/5, offences that carry penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment for up to seven years.
Central Railway praised Kamble for his alertness and swift response, stating that his vigilance helped uncover a growing trend of fake ticket rackets targeting suburban train services. Officials urged commuters to buy tickets only from authorised platforms, including booking counters, ATVM machines and the official UTS app. The railway also issued a strict warning that anyone found travelling with forged or manipulated tickets will face legal action and severe penalties.