I belong to Kolkata, Bengal but I work in an International School in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. I had booked AC2 (For three of us) tickets for my whole family while I was going on my winter holidays to Kolkata, on the 4TH of December, 2010, from this person through a known friend of mine. It was my blind faith which restrained me from checking the status of my tickets at the penultimate hour. We had boarded the train on the particular date and time and were waiting for the chart to be put up. Then suddenly we found out that our name was not there in the reservation list!!!??? With my family, and my only little daughter, I was petrified! I call upon this agent and all that I get to here is that our tickets were cancelled!!!??? Where, when? I ask him, about the refund money??? He says that he had already paid back!!!??? I tell him that I did not receive any money? and I shall go to Kolkata then and on the very same day, so kindly arrange for my reservation as it was never me that had cancelled the tickets!?! To my surprise, he asks me to remain in the same berth where I had temporarily sat and he will talk to the Ticket Checker In-charge that day and solve the matter. The TT arrives and asks me to sit in the berth he wants us to and has a long detailed conversation with my so called agent. After a while the TT exclaims that we had no valid ticket so we were to pay some fine and book new tickets!!!???? I call on my agent and again I ask him some clarification...now after some more conversation with the TT he asks me whether I have some money with me! He then asks me to pay Rs1200/- and relax! I do so to save my wife and my daughter from hardship. After another two hours the TT returns and shows us two different berths and announces his power to have arranged at the least two berths for us, that even in AC3! Unbeleivable!!! Now the real question is, If I had not bought any reserved tickets at all, and I had enough acquaintances with the TTs I can very well travel in the Indian Railways without buying a valid ticket or tickets!!!! Am I right?