A fake railway ticket racket involving digitally forged monthly season and journey tickets was uncovered during ticket checking on the Veraval-Jabalpur Express, leading to the arrest of three people, including the alleged person who created the tickets using a Google AI application, according to a report by Gujarat Samachar – Ahmedabad.
The incident came to light on 15 October after train number 11463 left Wankaner Junction. The chief ticket inspector conducting routine checks found two passengers standing in the corridors of coaches H-1 and S-1. When asked to produce their tickets, the passengers displayed a monthly season ticket and a journey ticket on their mobile phones.
The tickets carried the name of the Government of India, the railway’s official logo and other security markings. The ticket inspector reportedly found these details suspicious and immediately informed the commercial control room. When the train reached Surendranagar station, the two passengers were handed over to the Railway Protection Force for further action.
The report said the railway administration and railway police subsequently initiated a joint investigation. A case was registered at the Rajkot Railway Police Station under Sections 336(3), 340(2) and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The sections cited in the report relate to alleged offences involving forgery and the use of forged documents.
According to the investigation described by the publication, the tickets recovered from the passengers had been created by a man named Manmohan, who lives in Gondal. Police alleged that he used a Google AI application to prepare the forged tickets and sent them to an associate through WhatsApp. The tickets were then being used during the journey.
The railway police surveillance team reportedly received information about the alleged ticket creator and arrested Manmohan in Gondal within a few hours. The report identified the two passengers and the alleged ticket maker as the three people arrested in the case.
The episode highlights the role of frontline ticket-checking staff in detecting digital fraud on trains, where passengers increasingly present tickets through mobile phones rather than printed documents. In this case, the ticket inspector’s scrutiny of the government name, railway logo and security markings led to the suspected fraud being escalated to the control room before the train reached its next major station.
The three accused were produced before a court, and proceedings were initiated to send them to judicial custody, the report said. Further details about the number of journeys allegedly undertaken using the forged tickets, the financial value involved and whether additional people were connected to the case were not provided in the supplied report.
