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In a serious breach of railway regulations, four booking staff members at Mahim station on the Western Railway line have been suspended after a non-railway individual was found operating a ticket window during a surprise vigilance check on July 4.

The Railway Vigilance team, acting on specific intelligence regarding unauthorized activity at the booking office, arrived at Mahim station around 7:00 PM and discreetly monitored the functioning of the three Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) counters on Platform No. 1. During the check, one of the counters, Window No. 5, was found to be manned by an outsider who was actively issuing tickets and handling government cash without any official authorisation. Meanwhile, Window No. 4 had its shutter down by 8:00 PM and was non-functional, while Window No. 6 remained unmanned between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM.

At around 8:30 PM, the vigilance team entered the booking office in the presence of the Station Master. Inside, all designated booking personnel, including the Chief Booking Supervisor, the shift in-charge, and two booking clerks, were found sitting in a separate room having snacks while the unauthorized individual continued operating the booking counter.

Upon questioning, the outsider admitted to managing the counter on behalf of the regular railway staff. A total of Rs 2,650 was recovered from the individual and deposited into the government account. Additional discrepancies included Rs 34 in excess government cash at Window No. 5 and Rs 45 at Window No. 6.

In response, Western Railway suspended four employees for dereliction of duty and breach of conduct: Angad Devidas Dhawale (Chief Booking Supervisor, General), Ramashankar R. (Chief Booking Supervisor and evening in-charge of Window No. 4), Ganesh Patil (booking clerk of Window No. 5), and Vijay Devadiga (booking clerk of Window No. 6).

The outsider involved has been handed over to the Railway Protection Force (RPF), and an official investigation into the matter is currently underway.