India-origin US citizen booked for Aadhaar card forgery in Mohali

To circumvent organ transplantation rules that allow transplant within blood relations only, he showed his uncle as his father in the document

An Indian-origin US citizen and his uncle have been booked for pretending to be father and son through a fake Aadhaar card to facilitate the former’s kidney transplant in Mohali.

Following an over 15-month investigation, police have booked the uncle-nephew duo. (HT File)

The accused, Harjeet Singh, hails from Phagwara, Punjab, and lives in California, US. He and his uncle Surinder Singh were booked on the complaint of his father-in-law, Paramjeet Singh, a resident of Nizampura Hawelian village in Amritsar district.

In his complaint to the Mohali SSP in February last year, Paramjeet stated that Harjeet and his father, Resham Singh, lived in the US.

For a kidney ailment, Paramjeet approached a private hospital in Phase 8, Mohali, where he was advised a transplant. To circumvent organ transplantation rules that allow transplant within blood relations only, Harjeet prepared a fake Aadhaar card, reflecting Surinder as his father.

The complainant alleged that Harjeet also paid Surinder ₹30 lakh for donating his kidney and returned to the US after the surgery.

Following an over 15-month investigation, police have booked the uncle-nephew duo under Sections 419, 198, 199 and 200 of the Indian Penal Code at the Phase 8 police station.