The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday arrested its own official and an accomplice for developing a software that gave them illegal access to the Indian Railways’ ticketing website.
Assistant Programmer Ajay Garg and distributor Anil Kumar Gupta developed a software that enabled travel operators to dupe the tatkal ticket booking system of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. With the help of this software, booking agents were able to procure confirmed tatkal tickets.
Garg had worked with IRCTC between 2007 and 2011, and knew the loopholes in the corporation’s ticketing software, CNN-News18 reported. Gupta helped distribute the unauthorised software for a hefty fee.
“The accused collected money for the use of this software by certain booking agents and had amassed huge wealth from these activities,” the CBI said, according to ANI. “They used to receive money through bitcoins and hawala networks.”
The CBI raided 14 locations in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh and seized Rs 89 lakh in cash and jewellery worth Rs 69 lakh. The agency filed a case against Garg and Gupta, and charged them with criminal conspiracy, computer-related offences and criminal misconduct. Investigators identified three travel agents from Mumbai and seven from Jaunpur involved in the case.
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