E-Paper
Fake marriage certificate racket busted in Khadoor Sahib, 2 held
2 aides yet to be arrested; accused had allegedly taken around ₹10,000 to 13, 000 for issuing fake certificates in two cases
Two persons were arrested after a fake marriage certificate racket was busted in Khadoor Sahib tehsil complex of Goindwal sub-division on Tuesday. Police are on the lookout for two others involved in the racket.
The accused have been identified as Avtar Singh, who is posted as a reader to Khadoor Sahib tehsildar Abhishek Verma (a revenue officer) and Khadoor Sahib Sewa Kendra operator Swaran Singh. Two of their aides, identified as Ashok Kumar and Kulbir Singh, who run a photostat shop, are on the run.
As per the police, the accused had been tampering with old record files of marriage registrations and issuing it to unsuspecting persons. After two such cases surfaced, Tarn Taran deputy commissioner Kulwant Singh deputed a superintendent, Surjit Singh, to probe the matter.
The superintendent found that in two of the cases, the accused had taken around ₹10,000 to 13, 000 for issuing fake certificates.
Based on the findings, a case under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of record of court or of public register), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 168 (public servant unlawfully engaging in trade), 471 (whoever fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any document), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the accused at Goindwal Sahib police station.
Goindwal station house officer Jaswant Singh said, “We will produce the accused in a local court and seek police remand to find out how many such fake certificates they had issued in the past.” He added that raids are on to nab the two accused who are currently on the run.
