Syndicate extorting money from Rajasthan bus conductors for decades dismantled, 8 held

KOta Feb 1 constabulary busted a crime syndicate that allegedly extorted money from Rajasthan Roadways jalopy conductors by forcing them to bill passengers without issuing tickets, even out as they offered the conductors protection from vigilance checks, officials said.Jhalawar Police carried out simultaneous raids across 12 districts and arrested eight people, including the gang leader, Narendra Singh Rajawat, an independent ward councillor in Jhalawar.With this, the decades-long operations of the gang, which has caused substantial loss to the state transport corporation, has been dismantled, they said.As part of 'Operation Clean Ride', police also captured the exchange of money on video in a sting operation, a senior officer said on Saturday.Since the gang would pass on messages regarding vigilance teams to the bus conductors through STD phone booths in the early days of its operation, it came be known as the 'STD Gang'.The gang threatened roadways staff with false complaints of corruption for not issuing tickets to passengers and job termination if the payments were not made.The gang allegedly facilitated "large-scale ticketless travel" and shared "confidential vigilance information", resulting in heavy revenue loss to the state, police said.Police claimed the gang's activities caused revenue losses of up to 40 per cent at certain locations.Speaking in detail on the matter on Saturday, Jhalawar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said following a confidential complaint received on December 24, 2025, police began a discreet investigation.Technical evidence, call detail records and UPI transaction details were collected by the probe team. A sting operation was conducted that recorded members of the accepting illegal payments from conductors at different bus stands.Based on the findings, a coordinated raid plan was executed, and all arrests were made simultaneously so that they would have no time to flee or destroy evidence.Police arrested eight accused, including gang leader Narendra Singh Rajawat. ₹11,57,980 in cash, three cars, two motorcycles, one laptop, 15 mobile phones, a spy camera pen, roadways identity cards, STD diaries, bus security slips, passbooks, cheque books and several other documents were seized from them.Additional detentions were made with the help of local police in Ajmer, Tonk, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur, Pratapgarh, Jaipur, Banswara, Kota and Agar in Madhya Pradesh for further investigation, the SP said.Police said the syndicate had been operating in a structured and organised manner for several years. They allegedly collected between ₹50 and ₹200 per conductor per trip and ₹1,200 to ₹2,500 per bus in exchange for bypassing checks and suppressing violations.Conductors who refused to pay were allegedly targeted through vigilance complaints and harassment, the officer said.The probe also revealed that multiple criminal cases had earlier been registered against members of the gang in different police stations for offences including obstruction of public servants, assault, criminal intimidation and violations under the IPC and SC/ST Act. Several of these cases are currently pending trial in court.The SP said police are coordinating with Rajasthan Roadways management for further investigation and to set up preventive measures for the future.'Operation Clean Ride' involved district special teams, cyber teams and police personnel from multiple districts. Further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the syndicate and assess the total revenue loss caused, police said.This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.