A railway ticket fraud that duped passengers with fake confirmation messages was exposed at Pune Railway Station on December 23, leading to the arrest of Praveenkumar Madhukar Londhe. Londhe, a resident of Gotkhindi, Valva Taluka, was caught by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for orchestrating the scam.
The fraud was discovered when two passengers were issued tickets for the same seat aboard the Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum Express. The dispute over the conflicting tickets prompted a ticket examiner, G.S. Rajapure, to investigate further.
Londhe targeted passengers at railway stations who had difficulty securing tickets. He offered to obtain confirmed tickets through official channels, collecting their personal details and mobile numbers in the process. He then sent them fake confirmation messages and charged a fee. The seats in these fake tickets were already allocated to other passengers, causing conflicts during travel.
The scam came to light when the ticket examiner noticed the issue on the Jhelum Express and informed authorities. An investigation team, led by RPF Inspector Sunil Kumar Yadav, along with Santosh Jaybhaye, Yuvraj Gaikwad, and Cyber Cell experts, traced Londhe through his mobile number, leading to his arrest.
