Mumbai: Woman Detained for Travelling in AC First Class Local Train with Fake Railway Pass on UTS App

A woman passenger travelling in an AC First Class coach from Vasai to Churchgate using a fake railway pass generated on the UTS mobile application was detained by the Railway Police for questioning on Friday. During the investigation, it was revealed that the bogus pass had been created by her friend. Based on this, the Bandra GRP Police registered a case against the woman and her friend for cheating the government by preparing and using a fake railway pass.

The accused have been identified as Preeti Sushil Gupta and Anuj Kishore Gupta. Both were released after being served notices and have been summoned to appear for questioning on Monday, said Police Inspector Shahaji Nikam.

According to police, Deepika Gongala Murthy, a Chief Ticket Inspector (CTI) with Indian Railways, resides in the Western Railway Colony at Andheri. She is currently posted with the Sports Squad at Mumbai Central and carries out mobile ticket checking duties on Churchgate–Virar local trains as per senior officials’ instructions.

On Friday around 11 am, while conducting ticket inspections in a Churchgate–Virar local train, Murthy checked tickets and passes of women passengers travelling in the First Class compartment. At that time, a woman identified as Preeti Gupta showed her railway pass on the UTS app on her mobile phone. The pass was for AC First Class travel from Churchgate to Vasai. However, Murthy became suspicious about the authenticity of the pass and questioned the passenger.

The woman allegedly gave evasive replies, following which she was brought to the Bandra Railway Police Station. A system verification of the pass revealed that no such pass had been issued in her name. During interrogation, Preeti Gupta admitted that the Churchgate–Vasai AC First Class pass was fake and had been created by her friend Anuj Gupta using a fake UTS application on her mobile phone.

Subsequently, the police registered a case against both Preeti Gupta and Anuj Gupta for preparing a fake railway pass and cheating the government. After being detained, both were released on notice and summoned to appear before the police on Monday for further questioning.

Police officials stated that further investigation on Monday may lead to several shocking revelations. Earlier, in a similar incident, the Borivali Railway Police had arrested a passenger with a fake railway pass, in which it was found that the pass had been created by his friend using an app. Following the latest incident, the Bandra Railway Police have once again registered a case against a woman passenger and her friend in connection with the use of a bogus railway pass.