HYDERABAD: The Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam and Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday alleged that agents, in connivance with the railway staff, were blocking railway tickets of Sabari Express, the main mode of transport for Ayyappa devotees to Sabarimala, and causing inconvenience to genuine devotees.In a representation submitted to the railway authorities, the organisations alleged that the devotees were facing problems in reserving tickets on the particular train.Samajam vice-president S Sudershan Reddy complained that the devotees were not getting tickets even while lining up at the reservation counters early in the day.“Even if a person is in the queue by 8.01 a.m, he is getting a ticket in the waiting list with a number between 200 and 300. The agents and the railway staff are colluding and blocking tickets,’’ he alleged.The delegation submitted a few tickets that were booked within two minutes of the opening of the reservation counter but fell in the waiting list category.“Even if the tickets are booked at all the counters in the state, it is highly impossible for the entire 1,200-odd sleeper class tickets to get filled within two minutes. We suspect there is a racket working behind,’’ he said.This will help the agents to sell tickets at a higher price to the devotees, he added.Sudershan Reddy urged railway officials to look into the issue and get back the blocked tickets from the agents and allot them to the genuine devotees. He urged railway officials to announce special trains in Oct itself so that devotees can plan their journey and book tickets for the pilgrimage which begins from Nov 16.
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