By IANS,
Dhaka : Taking advantage of the passenger rush ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, touts in railway stations in Dhaka are having a field day, selling tickets up to 200 percent more than the actual price.
Staff members were allegedly selling tickets in the black market at the Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka, depriving hundreds of people waiting in long queues for hours, the Daily Star reported.
Ticket sellers at counters were charging passengers an extra 30 to 50 taka per ticket.
Passengers said most of the tickets of prominent bus services have already been sold out well in advance ahead of Eid, forcing them to throng the railway station.
Ticket-seekers alleged some employees and security staff of the station collect tickets from the counters and sell them to passengers at higher prices.
“I bought a Dhaka-Rajshahi ticket for 400 taka, which actually costs 125 taka,” said Bulbul Ahmed. A youth offered him a ticket when he was standing in a queue.
Rapid Action Battalion detained a railway staff member on charges of selling tickets in the black market but released him after some time.
A mobile court has also sentenced two people, including a member of the Government Railway Police, to six months in prison for selling tickets.
Sitingshu Chakraborty, station manager of Kamalapur, denied any involvement of railway staff in the illegal sale of tickets.