Most train commuters in Chittagong yesterday failed to book advance tickets ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr as all tickets allotted for the first day had been sold out in just two hours into the launching of the ticketing schedule, allegedly due to the illicit activities of ticket scalpers.
According to the railway sources, 3,650 train tickets were allotted for the first day, which were sold out within the first two hours after its launching at 9:00am.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, many commuters at Chittagong Railway Station alleged that scalpers had collected most of the tickets.
However, the station authorities claimed that scalping had reduced drastically this year due to strong vigilance of law enforcing agencies.
This correspondent, posing as a commuter, contacted some of the listed scalpers of Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, and they all agreed to sell tickets of desired destinations at a much higher price.
Md Abul Kalam Azad, station manager of Chittagong Railway Station, however, claimed that the tickets were sold out in the first two hours of the first day as ticket seekers had been queuing at the station for the last 12 hours.
He further added Chittagong Railway Station sold 531 tickets for Subarna Express, 591 for Mahanagar Provati, 391 for Paharika Express, 304 for Chandpur Express, 559 for Mahanagar Godhuli, 439 for Meghna Express, 330 for Udoyn Express and 504 tickets for Turna Nishita Express on the first day.
“We have 30 CCTVs covering the entire station complex and three separate monitoring teams from Bangladesh Railway (East Zone) to look over the fair ticketing practices. Besides, different law enforcing agencies have their own teams in both on uniform and plaincloths. We also introduced a form for ticket buyers asking some quires to evade ticket scalping. So, the scalping has not been so easy this year,” claimed Azad.
During visit in the railway station, Dhaka Tribune found long queues of ticket seekers before every booking counter.
Sources said most ticket seekers started queuing from Saturday night while many hired street children or station porters to keep stand in their place on the queue at night in exchange of money.
However, the sufferings of most commuters ended in vain when scalpers grabbed a large share of the allotted tickets using various methods.
Kazi Muzurul Islam, an employee of a private firm who had been standing in the queue some three hours before the bookings started, had failed to manage four tickets for Branhamanbaria.
He said that the frontier ticket seekers mostly purchased four tickets on average which was looking suspicious.
Sarwar Ahmed Jamil, a university student, said he found two tickets instead of four tickets for Dhaka for July 24 while 10 persons in front of him consequently purchased four tickets each.
Ishaq, a shop owner and a listed ticket scalper, told this correspondent that he could manage five tickets for Dhaka for July 24, each costing Tk300 more than the actual price.
Similarly, Mohammad Helal, a shopkeeper of BRTC area in the city, also offered this correspondent three tickets of Sylhet at a much higher rate.
Divisional Commercial Officer Mizanur Rahman of BR (East) told Dhaka Tribune that scalping had occurred but this year its percentage was cut down heavily.
“If anyone purchase tickets standing in a line and sold them out of the station area, then what can we do?” he asked.
Recently, an intelligence report identified 48 scalpers, a list that included some 11 personnel of Railway Nirapatta Bahini. Three booking clerks of the railway station were also mentioned.