Curious Case Of Youth Arrested In Fake Train Ticket Scam At Pune Station; Claims To Be JEE, NDA Entrance Topper |
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrested a 31-year-old former Ranji player for defrauding railway passengers by sending fake ticket confirmation messages and collecting cash under false promises at Pune Railway Station. The first case came to light on December 17, 2024, when a passenger, Deependra Rokaya, reported being cheated.
The accused has been identified as Praveen Kumar Madhukar Londhe (31), a resident of Sangli. Londhe, a qualified engineer and former Ranji player, started defrauding passengers by sending fake ticket confirmation messages and collecting cash. He also claimed that he had cleared IIT JEE Exam and was among the rankers along with NDA exam.
Londhe, who was unemployed, later started defrauding people under the pretext of providing confirmed tickets.
During interrogation, he revealed that he had been active at the railway station for the last 20 days and had cheated more than 12 passengers.
One message was linked to his number and he was caught
According to the information, the victim, Rokaya, who did not have a confirmed ticket, was in line at the Unreserved Ticket System (UTS) counter at Pune station. Meanwhile, the accused Londhe approached him and offered to secure a confirmed ticket, claiming to have good connections with railway officials.
Trusting the man, Rokaya provided his travel details and mobile number. Shortly after, he received an SMS from the mobile number (9158720449) of the accused containing a fake ticket confirmation for the particular train.
Londhe took ₹2,000 in cash from Rokaya. When another passenger claimed the seat, the victim realized he had been cheated. The train’s Ticket Examiner (TTE) confirmed that Rokaya’s seat allocation was fake. Similar cases were reported at the station.
Following the incident, a surveillance operation was launched near the UTS counter by ASI Santosh Jayabhaye and Constable Yuvraj Gaikwad, under the supervision of Inspector Sunil Kumar Yadav.
Sunil Kumar Yadav, speaking to the Free Press Journal, said, “The investigation traced the fraudulent SMS to a mobile number registered to the accused, Praveen Kumar Madhukar Londhe.”
On December 22, another passenger, Niranjan Chaudhary, reported a similar incident involving the same mobile number and a fake ticket confirmation with the same PNR number.
“We traced him with the help of the mobile number and Paytm ID (with a passport-size photo) that matched the suspect’s description. During interrogation, Londhe admitted his crime.”
