In a significant bust, Gorai Police recently arrested four individuals for counterfeiting entry vouchers to an amusement park, cheating the establishment out of more than Rs70 lakh. Investigators revealed that at least 8,500 fake vouchers were printed at a press operated by one of the accused.
The scam came to light in August when a park employee noticed that some vouchers had a seven-digit barcode instead of the standard six digits. This discrepancy alerted the management, leading them to file a police complaint. An FIR was registered against unidentified individuals for cheating.
During the investigation, police discovered that some of the counterfeit vouchers were being sold near Borivali jetty, where visitors board ferries to the amusement park. Street vendors, including snack sellers and paanwalas, were found selling these fake vouchers. After questioning the vendors, police obtained leads on the suspects.
Under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Anand Bhoite, a team led by Inspector Vijay Jadhav made four arrests, two of which occurred at the Indo-Nepal border.
According to police, authorized ticketing agents acquired vouchers in bulk at Rs900 each from the park under a promotional scheme. These agents would then sell the vouchers for Rs1,100, earning a profit of Rs200. The accused, however, sold the counterfeit vouchers at the same price, pocketing the full amount since their printing costs were minimal.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Rohit Tiwari, Omprakash Pal, Diwakar Maurya, and Mithilesh Gupta, who operated the press where the fake vouchers were printed. “Tiwari, Pal, and Maurya had previously worked with ticketing agents, which gave them insight into how the system functions,” an officer noted.