Delhi Police question MCD officials in fake death certificate case

Police said the certificate was issued by the MCD. “The certificate has genuine signs and stamps of MCD officials, including a former councillor,” said the officer.

Published on: Oct 16, 2025, 07:56:03 IST

By Jignasa Sinha

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Days after arresting a 35-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur for faking his death to evade arrest, the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch said it is now probing the role of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials, including a former councillor from outer Delhi, in the case.

An investigator said the fraud came to light last year when discrepancies were found in the death certificate while reviewing one of Vimal’s cases.

The accused, Virender Vimal, a resident of Mungeshpur village, was wanted in multiple cases of theft, burglary, and illegal possession of firearms registered at Bawana police station. In 2021, Vimal submitted a death certificate claiming he had died. Police said they initially believed that he had died.

DCP (Crime) Aditya Gautam had told HT that he had done this to avoid non-bailable warrants issued against him by the court. He was being summoned in cases and police wanted to detain him.

An investigator said the fraud came to light last year when discrepancies were found in the death certificate while reviewing one of Vimal’s cases. “It looked fake and we consulted authorities. We soon found he was evading us and the certificate was fake” said an officer.

Police said they conducted extensive digital tracking and field verification. Following technical and manual surveillance, the accused was traced and apprehended from Gorakhpur.

During interrogation, police said they confirmed the certificate was issued by the MCD. “We don’t know if he changed the name in it or got it illegally signed by someone. The certificate has genuine signs and stamps of MCD officials, including a former councillor,” said the officer.

“We are now summoning them for questioning to determine whether they were complicit or their documents were misused,” he added, saying that MCD records are also being examined to check possible internal involvement.

When contacted by HT, the former MCD councillor in outer Delhi did not respond to calls or messages.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jignasa Sinha
Jignasa Sinha is a Special Correspondent at Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With more than six years of reporting experience, she covers crime and policing in the national capital. Her beats also include Delhi prisons, the Delhi Fire Services and Delhi courts, while she regularly reports on gender, labour and social justice. Over the course of her career, Jignasa has reported on major criminal investigations, international crime syndicates, high-profile cyber fraud cases, law-and-order developments, protests, disasters and public institutions. Her reporting combines breaking news with in-depth, long form, human interest stories that examine the human impact of public policy, policing and the criminal justice system. In addition to reporting for the newspaper, she contributes to the Hindustan Times website and app, and plays an active role in coordinating on-ground coverage of major developments and breaking news across Delhi. Before joining Hindustan Times, Jignasa worked at The Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi, where she spent five years covering crime, Delhi airport, courts and health. She began her journalism career as an intern at an AI magazine in Bengaluru while pursuing her postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.Read More

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