Two passengers caught using fake letter-head of Mamata for getting berth
Businessmen from Andhra Pradesh tried to get their berth confirmed by getting a fake letter in the name of the former railways minister
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Friday, November 11, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20111111201111110233094797426d170/Two-passengers-caught-using-fake-letterhead-of-Mamata-for-getting-berth.html)
Between her hectic parleys with the UPA government over threats to withdraw support and surprise visits to the police stations for getting her party workers freed, when would former railways minister and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee find time to send a personal fax to Ahmedabad railways authorities, asking them to confirm the reservation of passengers in the VIP quota.
This question apparently bothered officials in the Emergency Quota (EQ) cell of railways who received a faxed letter-head bearing the “signature” of Banerjee, asking to confirm ticket of two passengers in Navjeevan Express from Ahmedabad to Chennai.
The letter said that Madan Jain (62), a physically challenged person, and SK Jain (30), who had to travel from Ahmedabad to Vijaywada on Thursday, should be accommodated in the VIP quota. The letter also had their PNR numbers and other particulars.
The hand-made corrections in the text printed on the letter-head made the local railways officials suspicious, who asked their counterparts in the Railways board in Delhi to further check with the Ministry of Railways.
Officials, however, found out that no such letter was sent from the concerned. The officials compared the signatures of Banerjee in the letter with those on the circulars which were sent during her tenure as railways minister in the past. They bore no resemblance. Further queries revealed that the letter was faxed from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
Railways get cracking
“The only way to get to the bottom of the case was through the passengers, so we decided to confirm one of the two berths,’’ said Assistant Commercial Manager Darshit Priyadarshi.
On Thursday, the duo arrived at the railways station well before the departure of train and occupied their ‘VIP’ berth in B-2 coach, blissfully ignorant of the special team of railways officials and cops, which was keeping a tab on them. The team was being guided by the supervision of Senior Commercial Manager Dinesh Chanchodia and RPF Divisional Deputy Commissioner Sumit Shandilya. As the train departed, the team members started questioning the duo and found that they had managed to send the letter to the railways officials through their friend K Bhaskar Reddy in Andhra Pradesh.
Booked by the police
Assured that the duo was well aware of the forgery and cheating which was being committed to get the berth, the officials made them alight the train at Nadiad and registered a case against them.
Further interrogation revealed that both were businessman from Kakinada. They had come to Ahmedabad on vacations and contacted their friend after they could not get their berths confirmed. Investigating officials also mentioned that the claims of Madan Jain that he was handicapped were also being ascertained.
Passengers beware !
Division Railways Manager Rakesh Behal said that the case should serve as a reminder to all those passengers who try to get tickets confirmed through unlawful means.
There have been instances in the past wherein passengers have tried to take up journey by falsely using names of MLAs and MPs, which is a serious offence, he said. He also said many travel agents try to mislead passengers by taking money from them on pretext of getting their tickets confirmed.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Friday, November 11, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20111111201111110233094797426d170/Two-passengers-caught-using-fake-letterhead-of-Mamata-for-getting-berth.html)
Between her hectic parleys with the UPA government over threats to withdraw support and surprise visits to the police stations for getting her party workers freed, when would former railways minister and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee find time to send a personal fax to Ahmedabad railways authorities, asking them to confirm the reservation of passengers in the VIP quota.
This question apparently bothered officials in the Emergency Quota (EQ) cell of railways who received a faxed letter-head bearing the “signature” of Banerjee, asking to confirm ticket of two passengers in Navjeevan Express from Ahmedabad to Chennai.
The letter said that Madan Jain (62), a physically challenged person, and SK Jain (30), who had to travel from Ahmedabad to Vijaywada on Thursday, should be accommodated in the VIP quota. The letter also had their PNR numbers and other particulars.
The hand-made corrections in the text printed on the letter-head made the local railways officials suspicious, who asked their counterparts in the Railways board in Delhi to further check with the Ministry of Railways.
Officials, however, found out that no such letter was sent from the concerned. The officials compared the signatures of Banerjee in the letter with those on the circulars which were sent during her tenure as railways minister in the past. They bore no resemblance. Further queries revealed that the letter was faxed from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
Railways get cracking
“The only way to get to the bottom of the case was through the passengers, so we decided to confirm one of the two berths,’’ said Assistant Commercial Manager Darshit Priyadarshi.
On Thursday, the duo arrived at the railways station well before the departure of train and occupied their ‘VIP’ berth in B-2 coach, blissfully ignorant of the special team of railways officials and cops, which was keeping a tab on them. The team was being guided by the supervision of Senior Commercial Manager Dinesh Chanchodia and RPF Divisional Deputy Commissioner Sumit Shandilya. As the train departed, the team members started questioning the duo and found that they had managed to send the letter to the railways officials through their friend K Bhaskar Reddy in Andhra Pradesh.
Booked by the police
Assured that the duo was well aware of the forgery and cheating which was being committed to get the berth, the officials made them alight the train at Nadiad and registered a case against them.
Further interrogation revealed that both were businessman from Kakinada. They had come to Ahmedabad on vacations and contacted their friend after they could not get their berths confirmed. Investigating officials also mentioned that the claims of Madan Jain that he was handicapped were also being ascertained.
Passengers beware !
Division Railways Manager Rakesh Behal said that the case should serve as a reminder to all those passengers who try to get tickets confirmed through unlawful means.
There have been instances in the past wherein passengers have tried to take up journey by falsely using names of MLAs and MPs, which is a serious offence, he said. He also said many travel agents try to mislead passengers by taking money from them on pretext of getting their tickets confirmed.
