Centre in Gurugram raided for making fake Aadhaar cards for migrant workers

According to the investigators, the centre operated for more than six months from a public sector undertaking bank’s ‘Sikanderpur branch’ in the Qutub Plaza market in DLF Phase-I

A joint team of the chief minister’s flying squad and Gurugram police raided an Aadhaar centre on Faridabad Road on Tuesday that was preparing forged Aadhaar cards for migrant workers as well as Nepalese nationals arriving in the National Capital Region to earn a living by charging ₹6,000 from each such applicant, police officers associated with the case said on Wednesday.

Police said that at least 15 to 18 applicants visited the Aadhaar centre between 10am and 2pm almost every day. (Representational Image)

According to the investigators, the centre operated for more than six months from a public sector undertaking bank’s ‘Sikanderpur branch’ in the Qutub Plaza market in DLF Phase-I.

They said that at least 15 to 18 applicants visited the Aadhaar centre between 10am and 2pm almost every day.

According to police, Mohammad Arif, 21, was arrested from the branch following a seven-hour-long raid that ended at nearly 10pm on Tuesday. The police seized a laptop, printer, and other biometric scanners from the spot.

Investigators said it would only be known how many forged Aadhaar cards Arif created once his laptop is fully examined and additional data is obtained from the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India).

Members of flying squad said they received a tip-off about the centre at least a fortnight ago, back after which they began an investigation before carrying out the raid.

According to Vikash Kaushik, assistant commissioner of police (DLF), at least two to three more suspects, including one identified as Miraj, were working with Arif to prepare the forged cards using forged documents.

“We are attempting to apprehend Miraj and the other suspects. They were preparing forged Aadhaar cards with Arif’s help primarily for migrant workers arriving in the city in search of work,” he added.

Investigators said Miraj was the primary suspect in the case, charging up to ₹6,000 to prepare forged birth certificates and other necessary documents for needy migrant workers.

According to a senior police officer familiar with the investigation’s progress, Miraj used to bring applicants to Arif for biometrics scanning to apply for Aadhaar after preparing forged documents.

“Miraj used to pay only ₹500 to Arif for a forged Aadhaar card. Miraj owned a common service centre in Chakkarpur, Sector-28, where he used to prepare all the necessary forged documents for a person to apply for Aadhaar,” said ACP Kaushik.

According to investigators, Arif admitted to making Aadhaar cards for Nepalese nationals as well, based on forged documents provided by Arif.

They said that after his arrest, Arif took out at least five Aadhaar application files saved on his laptop and gave their printouts to the raiding team, explaining that all of these were applied for using forged birth and other identity certificates. According to police, a raid was also conducted on Miraj’s shop in Chakkarpur, but he fled before the police arrived.

Meanwhile, bank officials said that they were not involved in the operation of the centre in the branch. “After finalising the operator through tender, our head office allots the centre at designated locations. Arif used to leave after depositing all the fees collected for Aadhaar-related works,” a bank official said, adding that they had no idea such an illegal act was being carried out at the centre.