The crime investigation agency (CIA) staff of Ludhiana police, in a joint operation with counter intelligence, busted a fake Aadhaar Card enrolment centre in Tibba area on Saturday.
Three men – Raj Kumar, 48, of New Subhash Nagar; Vinod Kumar, alias Bhalla, 42, of Tilak Nagar; and Raj Kumar, alias Sunny, 35, of Bajda Colony, who were running the centre, have been arrested.
Their accomplice, Kuldeep Kumar of Harjap Nagar, is on the run.
As many as 16 Aadhaar cards, 36 enrolment certificates, five PAN cards, five voter cards, two printers, a laptop, a fingerprint scanner and an iris scanner were recovered from their possession.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP, Investigation) Simratpal Singh Dhindsa said police had received information that a fake Aadhaar Card enrolment centre was operating from Abhi Studio in Tibba.
Even as enrolments and corrections in Aadhaar card are done for free, the accused were charging unwary people up to ₹1,000.
“They had access to a UIDAI User ID and password registered in Dhubri, Assam. Using these details, they would log in to the UIDAI portal to make corrections in Aadhaar card. They were also using the stamp of a fictional MLA, Harish Pushkar, and making fingerprint impressions using gum,” the DCP said.
“According to rules, an Aadhaar card enrolment centre can be run from an authorised location only. Besides, an examination has to be cleared to get a licence. We are questioning the accused to establish how they got access to the User ID,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“According to rules, an Aadhaar card enrolment centre can be run from an authorised location only. Besides, an examination has to be cleared to get a licence. We are questioning the accused to establish how they got access to the User ID,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Investigators said Raj and Bhalla were Class 10 pass-outs, and the latter was a photographer. Sunny has cleared Class 12 and runs a grocery shop.
All accused have been booked under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 465 (punishment for forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code at the Tibba police station.