Racket in fake TTD darshan tickets unearthed

Tirupati: A racket involving sale of fake darshan tickets to Tirumala-bound devotees has come to light and investigations are underway, the AP Vigilance and Enforcement department said here on Thursday.

This happened even as the TTD had claimed it was taking several steps to streamline the ticket issuance mechanism and plug the loopholes.

Police said unidentified scammers, suspected to be hailing from Maharashtra and based here, have been morphing Kalyanotsavam and special entry darshan tickets. The gang made several devotees transfer money online to get the tickets. Only after the devotees reached Tirumala with those tickets did they realise being cheated.

A vigilance and enforcement team led by DSP Malleswara Reddy has been collecting information on this racket for the past ten days. On Thursday, the team got a tip-off that a devotee from Hyderabad purchased a Kalyanotsavam ticket at a cost of Rs. 4,000 against the actual price of Rs1,000 from the scammers.

“Through sources, we received a tip-off that a constable from Hyderabad has purchased a morphed Kalyanotsavam ticket from a scammer for Rs4,000. We followed the devotee to the Alipiri check post, where his ticket wasn’t read by the scanner. It meant it was a fake ticket. We questioned the devotee and collected all the details,” DSP Reddy told Deccan Chronicle.

“The devotee had purchased the ticket from a scammer based in Maharashtra. The entire conversation and money transaction between them was done online and the devotee received the ticket on Whatsapp. The scammer might be from Maharashtra and his name, as per the phone number and bank account, was given as Patil,” the DSP said.

DSP Reddy along with CI Sekhar and SI Ramaswamy raided a photocopy centre here and collected key details on Thursday evening. No arrest was reported so far.