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Bhopal police arrests 7 in fake Aadhaar card,voter ID scam

The arrested people created fake Aadhaar cards, voter ID through a banned Chinese App to get SIM cards for gangs, said police

Published on: Aug 28, 2020, 10:28:48 IST
Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By
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Bhopal cyber police has arrested seven persons, including a minor, who used to create fake Aadhaar cards and voter identity cards through a banned Chinese App to get SIM cards issued in different names. They would then provide the same to different gangs , said police.

The accused were produced before the court on Wednesday and the court sent them on a three-day police remand. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The accused were produced before the court on Wednesday and the court sent them on a three-day police remand. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Also read: Police in Indore lodge FIR after man allegedly morphs of PM’s photo

The police seized as many as 800 fake voter ID-cards, 125 fake Aadhaar cards, 800 used SIM cards, 537 unsold SIM cards, a printer, 12 mobile phones and some other electronic gadgets from the gang members.

The accused were Narendra Prajapati, 22, a resident of Gwalior; Mohit Gupta, 25, Mohan Gupta, 29, and Satish Dubey, 31, residents of Shivpuri; Krishnapal Singh, 23, Vikas Jain, 30 and a 16-year-old boy, residents of Dabra, Gwalior. They were booked under section 420 (fraud) of IPC and relevant sections of IT Act 2000 on Wednesday. One of the accused, Kaushal Singh Bais of Delhi, is absconding, said police.

Bhopal additional director general of police Upendra Jain said, “A nine-month investigation into a case in which an agriculture department officer in Bhopal lost 80,000 from her bank account led us to this crime. The officer, Bhawna Pandey, received a call in which the caller claimed to be a bank employee and said her credit card limit would be increased if she shared some details. Later, she lost 80,000 from her account.”

Cybercrime cell of Bhopal police, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Sandesh Jain said, “The team investigating the matter found links of the gang after tracing a mobile number issued from Gwalior on a fake ID.”

“Mohit Gupta and Mohan Gupta, who are brothers, used to create fake Aadhaar cards and voter ID cards by using a fake ID-maker application. They used their own photos on the fake IDs. Then they used these ID cards to create fake SIM cards. Since the SIM cards were fake, there was no verification required by the telecom companies. Then, they created fake accounts of a renowned e-commerce payment system on the basis of the fake SIM cards. The gang used to sell these fake SIM cards and fake accounts of the e-commerce payment system to gangs involved in cyber crimes. For each of the SIM cards and the fake accounts, they got 500 each,” said Jain.

He said the gang used another modus operandi too to dupe people and had created three WhatsApp groups to keep in touch with criminals in the other states.

The accused were produced before the court on Wednesday and the court sent them on a three-day police remand.

Police are interrogating them and also getting details of people who were associated with this gang through the WhatsApp groups, said Sandesh Jain.

  • Shruti Tomar
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Shruti Tomar

    I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More