Staff make fake passes, MTC loses Rs 2 lakh a month

The accused have been identified as Krishnakumar (41) of Sembakkam, Jagadish (37) of Velachery, Prakash (45) from Tiruverkadu, Sureshkumar (43) of New Avadi Road and Rameshbabu (32) of Tiruttani taluk.

Police said, Krishnakumar, who works as an accountant at Adambakkam depot, colluded with Jagadish, an MTC employee attached to Tiruvanmiyur depot, printed fake monthly Travel-As-You-PleaseTicket (TAYPT), which is sold for Rs 1,000 at the depot counter. 

They bought printing machines worth Rs 2.5 lakh and kept it at Adambakkam for the purpose, said police. Similarly, Sureshkumar and Prakash, who worked at Anna Nagar depot, bought these fake passes for a mere Rs 200 from Ramesh and sold them in the counter. A colour printer, scanner, cutter and lamination machines were seized from Ramesh. All five of them have been remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Puzhal prison.

During the investigation, the accused reportedly admitted that they had printed 200 such passes every month, which resulted in a loss of Rs 2 lakh a month to MTC. 

MTC managing director, V Kirshnamurthy, on whose complaint, Central Crime Branch registered a case and arrested the five men, told DTNext that he got multiple reports of fake TAYPT being issued to passengers. “The MTC employees involved in the scam have been suspended from service,” he said.