Two allegedly fake ticket examiners have been arrested from the Sealdah division of Eastern Railway, said a railway official.

The arrests follow a drive to provide unique identity badges to ticket examiners to distinguish them from imposters who extort money from passengers and vendors, officials said.

On Saturday, a man was arrested at Laxmikantapur station in the Sealdah South suburban section.

“Railway staff on patrol spotted the man aggressively demanding that passengers produce their tickets. The man was asked to show his badge. He could not and was handed to RPF at Baruipur station,” said an official of the Sealdah division.

Last week, another alleged imposter was arrested onboard the Sealdah-Lalgola Passenger near Ranaghat station.

In this case, the passengers asked the ticket examiner to show his badge. The alleged imposter reportedly claimed to be a vigilance officer but could not produce any identification proof. The passengers handed him over to RPF.

“We have conducted awareness camps across the division about fake TTEs and the drive to provide ID badges to them. The awareness of passengers led to the arrest,” said an official of the Sealdah division.

About five months ago, another allegedly fake ticket examiner was held at Ballygunge station.

“Passengers who do not have tickets are liable to be fined. However, only railway officials are authorised to collect the fine,” he said.

To curb the menace of fake TTEs, the division started providing badges to genuine staff from May 15.

“The unique badge initiative has not only equipped genuine TTEs with a clear mark of authenticity but has also empowered the public to differentiate between authorised personnel and frauds,” said Rajeev Saxena, the divisional railway manager of Sealdah.