Patna: Altogether 217 passengers were penalised, and Rs 1,48,395 collected as fines during a special ticket-checking drive at Punpun and Taregna stations in Patna district on Monday.The daylong operation was carried out by the railways to curb ticketless travel on trains passing through the two stations under the Danapur division of East Central Railway (ECR). Danapur senior divisional commercial manager Abhinav Siddarth said passengers on all trains halting at or passing through the stations were checked.“Special teams comprising commercial department officials and railway protection force (RPF) personnel were deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the drive and maintain law and order,” he said, adding that such intensive checks were being conducted regularly to prevent ticketless travel and improve facilities for genuine passengers.Earlier, a similar drive at Fatuha station under the Danapur division led to 498 passengers being caught without tickets and Rs 4,69,575 being recovered as fines, Siddarth said.“To make the operation more effective, the railways had deployed a special vehicle, popularly known as ‘lalgadi’, along with commercial staff and RPF personnel during the Fatuha drive,” he said.
