Eleven unauthorised people were arrested, who were operating as traveling ticket examiners (TTEs) from the New Delhi Railway Station premises, with many of them even carrying forged appointment letters and identity cards. Officials said that the gang operated at the station for 15 days before it was busted by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on August 30.

“A railway official who was traveling on a Kanpur Shatabdi train happened to come across one such 'TTE', identified as Bhanu Chaurasia, illegally checking tickets. He tipped the commercial department, which in turn probed the case and unearthed the racket,” said the Northern Railways.

"With the joint efforts of the RPF and commercial department, a gang involved in running a racket in the name of recruitment in the railways has been busted," the Northern Railways said. The RPF then constituted a crime team, which apprehended 10 other such 'TTEs'.  During the investigation, the team found that five of the 11 people had 'appointment letters', which when verified turned out to be forged.

On the basis of an investigation by the Government Railway Police, a case has been registered against five out of the 11 people arrested. They have been booked under Sections 319 and 320 (causing grievous hurt), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using a forged document as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code.

An investigation is underway with regards to the six others arrested, they said. Officials said this is perhaps first time in railways that such a "scam" has been reported. The accused were working normally, wearing white shirts and black pants, a usual sight of TTEs on platforms, they said.