Fake certs issued from Rae Bareli: UP ATS unravels wider network, arrests 6 more
The officials said all the six accused operated Jan Suvidha Kendra (Public Convenience Centre) and Cyber Cafes in different districts and were part of the wider network spread across different districts and states, involved in generating online fake birth, caste and economically weaker section certificates to get benefits of different government schemes.
LUCKNOW After arrest of six people from different districts, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad claimed to have exposed a wider network of misuse of fake birth certificates issued using the government’s Civil Registration System (CRS) portal without mentioning proper address and other details of beneficiaries, said senior police officials here on Saturday.
The officials said all the six accused operated Jan Suvidha Kendra (Public Convenience Centre) and Cyber Cafes in different districts and were part of the wider network spread across different districts and states, involved in generating online fake birth, caste and economically weaker section certificates to get benefits of different government schemes.
The officials said the accused were connected to each other via social media platforms and WhatsApp groups through which they used to share desired date of birth, name and address to get the fake certificates. They further explained that Zeeshan and his father Rizwan, who were earlier arrested in Rae Bareli along with Salon block village development officer (VDO), Vijay Singh Yadav (whose ID and password of the CRS portal was used to issue fake birth certificates) had shared the ID and password with the six accused to generate fake certificates from their centres. Later, payment was made online after sharing PDF of generated certificates in the group. They said the ATS was further investigating the matter, and more arrests were likely as this fraudulent exercise was suspected to be going on in other districts as well.
This scam of issuing fake birth certificates was first exposed in Salon block of Rae Bareli district when, in the second week of July, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) red flagged certain certificates made on the addresses of some of these 12 villages after recovering certificates from some people, including a few Bangladeshi nationals arrested from different states recently.
On July 17, the assistant development officer of Salon block, Jeetendra Singh had lodged FIR against the VDO Vijay Singh Yadav as well as Zeeshan and his father Rizwan, who operated Jan Suvidha Kendra in Salon town, and a minor who helped them. The investigation revealed that the fake birth certificates were issued from the same centre after which all three were arrested and sent to jail while the minor was sent to juvenile home.
Sharing details about the arrested people, Rae Bareli superintendent of police (SP), Abhishek Kumar Agarwal said the accused were identified as Govind Kesari of Robertsganj, Sonbhadra, Akash Kasaudhan of Khalilabad, Sant Kabir Nagar, Salman Ali alias Salman Guru of Gola Bazar, Gorakhpur, Shahnawaz Ahmad of Munda Pandey, Moradabad, Vaibhav Upadhyaya of Sadar Bazar, Pratapgarh and Sanjeev Kumar Singh of Taraya Sujan, Kushinagar.
He said all the six accused had been arrested under the previous FIR lodged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 sections 318 (4) for cheating, 319 (2) for cheating by impersonation, 336 (3) for forging electronic records, 337 for forging a document, 338 for forgery of valuable security and 340 (2) for using forged document or electronic record as genuine.
Notably, the FIR stated that as many as 19,184 fake birth certificates were issued at the addresses of four villages - Lahurepur, Gadi Islamnagar, Noorudinpur and Gopalpur Anantpur.
Two arrested from Kushinagar
Prompted by inputs from accused Zeeshan and village development officer Vijay Singh, the ATS team raided Common Service Centres in different districts of Gorakhpur division and arrested two from Bishunpura village in Kushinagar district. The arrested youths are alleged members of the gang issuing fake birth certificates and were identified as Common Service Centre operator Sanjeev Singh and data operator Satish Soni posted at CHC in Bishunpura where he was misusing the ID of the health department for updating the portal and issuing counterfeit certificates.
On condition of anonymity a senior officer said that the ATS had also arrested two youths, Akash Kasaudhan from Sant Kabeer Nagar and S Ali from Gorakhpur, for interrogation. Police also seized laptop, mobile phone and papers from the Common Service Centre.