Train Ticket Black Mkt: Nine including four employees of Shohoz held
Rab has arrested nine members of a train ticket black market syndicate -- including four employees of Shohoz Synesis Vincen JV -- a Shohoz-led joint venture -- the ticket-selling partner of Bangladesh Railway.
The arrestees include -- Mizan Dhali, 48, the alleged kingpin of the syndicate; his nephew Sohel Dhali, 30; Md Sumon, 39; Jahangir Alam, 49; Shahjalal Hossain, 42; Md Rasel, 24; Joynal Abedin, 46; Sabur Hawlader, 40, and Newton Biswas, 40.
According to Rab, Mizan and Sohel are office assistants of Shohoz, while Newton and Sabur were server operators of the platform.
Rab-3 with members of National Security Intelligence arrested the group on Thursday night, Khandker Al Moin, Rab's Legal and Media Wing director, told a press briefing yesterday.
The arrestees admitted to collecting tickets and selling those at 2-3 times higher prices, he said.
"We have information on transactions worth Tk 1 crore in various mobile banking accounts of the syndicate members in the last six months," he added.
Mizan has been selling tickets on the black market since he joined as office assistant of the then ticketing partner "Daffodil" in 2003. When Bangladesh Railway later partnered with Cnsbd, Mizan found a job there due to his experience. Then, in 2020, when the contract was given to Shohoz, Mizan moved there, Moin said.
Newton and Sabur, along with two other server operators who went into hiding, would provide details about tickets to Mizan and Sohel.
Then, Mizan, Sohel and other gang members – who had the passwords to many existing users' accounts – would log in and book tickets online or from ticket counters with the help of countermen, the Rab official said.
Moin said that agents across the country would place orders for tickets with Mizan and Sohel. After collecting tickets, Mizan and Sohel would send soft copies to the agents through messenger or WhatsApp.
This gang were putting 500 tickets on the black market daily, Moin said.
Agents received 50 percent of the profit, while Mizan shared the rest with his syndicate members.
During Eid season, Mizan and his gang would sell around 2,000-3,000 tickets through the black market.
Moin said they will investigate whether any top officials from Bangladesh Railway or Shohoz are involved in these illegal activities.
Shohoz Founder and Managing Director Maliha M Quadir said, "Shohoz Synesis Vincen JV is in no way involved with any black market syndicate. We have fully cooperated with Rab in their investigation."