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Address change request trips EPFO officer who forged ST certificate for job 35 years ago
The alleged forgery came to light when the accused applied for changing his permanent address, stating that he is a resident of Mathura and does not hail from Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan.
An Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) officer from Uttar Pradesh has been working as a central government employee for over 35 years allegedly on the basis of a forged Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials said.
CBI officials said an FIR was lodged against the enforcement officer of EPFO, Ramesh Chand Meena, a resident of Mathura, at the CBI unit of Lucknow on Thursday (October 29). They said the enforcement officer, who is posted in Gurugram, has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 for fraud, 467 for forging document with purpose of cheating, 471 for using forged document as genuine and 120-B for criminal conspiracy.
A senior CBI official privy to the investigation said the preliminary enquiry suggested that Ramesh Chand Meena got the forged ST certificate issued from sub-divisional magistrate of Hindaun, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan in June 1983.
He said the accused used the same certificate to get employment as a lower division clerk with EPFO in August 1985 and had been working as a central government employee since then.
“As per the findings, the accused not only forged the documents to get employment but also deprived genuine ST candidates of their rights,” he said.
“The inquiry suggested that the accused in connivance, with other state government officials of Rajasthan, procured the forged ST certificate and even mentioned his fake permanent address,” the official said.
He said the alleged forgery came to light when the accused applied for changing his permanent address, stating that he is a resident of Mathura and does not hail from Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan.
He said the inquiry further revealed that the accused’s son Nikhil, in his documents, had mentioned that they had migrated from Alwar, Rajasthan, which was contrary to the claim of the accused in his ST certificate that he hailed from Sawai Madhopur district.
He said CBI was investigating the matter in detail and recovery of money earned from his job procured using forged means could be recommended if concrete evidence was found against him.
