India’s railway minister Piyush Goyal has called for a cybersecurity overhaul at the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in the wake of a major ticketing scam.
A programmer at the anti-corruption division of the Central Bureau of Investigation is accused of developing software which could book hundreds of rail tickets with a single click of a mouse.
Programmer Ajay Garg allegedly sold the software to numerous travel agents and also took a cut of each ticket sold to the agencies’ clients.
Garg previously worked at IRCTC several years ago where it is thought he identified loopholes in the booking system enabling him to create the rogue software.
"Information was received about the running of illegal operations to book tatkal tickets of Indian Railways in an illegal manner. After swift enquiry, it was found that Ajay Garg, ex-IRCTC employee and presently working with the CBI, was the kingpin of this entire network which involved numerous other persons," the railway ministry said in a statement.
At least 10 travel agencies have so far been implicated in the scam, with many more suspected.
Large amounts of cash, gold bars and jewellery, dozens of laptops, mobile phones and other IT equipment were seized from his home and other addresses after a police raid.
CBI Director Alok Kumar Verna said Garg had ‘amassed huge wealth’ from the scam.
