New Delhi: Ever wondered how some travel agents manage to book confirmed railway tickets under Tatkal category, while thousands of passengers make unsuccessful bids on their computers or at reservation counters?


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A probe has now revealed that it was all programmed. A software programmer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) called Ajay Garg is alleged to be the brain behind one such illicit software which subverted the railways reservation system, allowing the agents to book hundreds of Tatkal tickets at a single click of mouse.


Tatkal Ticket Booking Issues


The ticket bookings under Tatkal quota open at 10 am for AC class and 11 AM for non-AC coaches for the trains departing next day. Under the quota, a fixed number of seats, in each coach, are sold at a premium by the railways to travellers who need tickets urgently.


A common complaint of passengers is that by the time they enter details on the IRCTC (which handles ticketing system of the railways) website or complete booking process, seats under Tatkal quota gets full within minutes of start of the booking. Their bookings are either rejected or they get a wait-listed ticket that too at a very steep prices.


Some travel agents offer to provide confirmed tickets under the quota by charging premium, over and above railways prices.


Subverting Tatkal Ticket reservation system


Garg and his front, Anil Gupta had developed the software and were distributing it to the agents for a hefty price.


Through the software, Garg was allegedly able to keep statement of tickets booked by the agents and charged them on every ticket, in addition to the cost of the software.


The software once installed on the agents computers needed a user name and password which Garg allegedly changed from time to time to ensure recurring payments.


Garg used a complex chain of Indian and foreign servers, online masking and cryptocurrency to facilitate his operations.


The software enables the user to save all required details to book Tatkal tickets before hand in the software which are automatically filled-in the IRCTC portal as soon as Tatkal booking starts and PNR is generated very fast.


The software provides proxy IP addresses, by passing IRCTC captcha, by passing bank OTP, form autofill, login with multiple IDs with several pairs with the help of US-based server, allowing the users to fraudulently gain unauthorised access to computer network in contravention of rules and regulations.


Bitcoins, hawala channels used


The money from the travel agents who booked tickets using his system was collected in bitcoins and through hawala channels to avoid scrutiny. 10 agents -- seven from Jaunpur and three from Mumbai -- have been identified in this connection so far.


Garg had served with IRCTC, between 2007 and 2011. After joining the CBI in 2012 he started exploiting the vulnerabilities of the IRCTC ticketing software.


CBI has arrested Garg, Gupta and has also booked 13 others, including his family members and travel agents.


With PTI Inputs