Chandigarh, June 5:
Punjab Transport Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar today informed that both the Advance ticket Bookers of Bathinda Depot of PRTC, who were found embezzling Rs.3,32,281 from government exchequer, have been sacked from the PRTC. A case has been registered against both the accused under sections 420 and 409 of the IPC for tampering with the records of ticketing machines, misusing the ticketing machines, and embezzling the government funds.
The Transport Minister said, Advance Bookers Ram Singh resident of village Bhaini of district Bathinda and Sukhpal Singh of village Pathrala in district Bathinda have been working for bus ticket booking on commission basis. He said that during the departmental investigation, both the employees were found guilty of embezzling Rs.3,32,281 just in the first five days of May, but the cash of sold tickets was not deposited in Bathinda Depot.
S. Bhullar said, apart from Bathinda Depot, both the Advance Bookers could be involved in booking of buses of other Depots of PRTC, thus the investigation teams of the department have been formed to look into the advance ticket bookings between April 1, 2021 to May 20, 2022 from Bathinda depot. These investigating teams will also ascertain the involvement of other employees in this fraud.
“Written instructions have also been issued to all the depots to get the record of tickets issued through the e-ticketing machines of the accused from April 1, 2021 to May 20, 2022”, informed the Transport Minister, adding that the General Managers (GMs) of Patiala , Chandigarh, Bathinda, Faridkot, Sangrur, Barnala, Budhlada, Ludhiana and Kapurthala depots of the PRTC have been asked to ensure the reconciliation of the advance ticket bookings of the buses. Similarly, it has also been directed that the Operations Branch at Head Office will also make it sure that advance ticket bookings for the buses from various depots of Punjab will be reconciled on the 10th of every month.
