Three held for issuing Aadhaar, PAN cards against bogus documents

MUMBAI: An Aadhaar card available for as low as Rs 300 at a pan shop led to the arrest of a gang allegedly involved in using forged documents to make identification

MUMBAI: An Aadhaar card available for as low as Rs 300 at a pan shop led to the arrest of a gang allegedly involved in using forged documents to make identification cards.

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The anti-terror cell of the Chembur police has arrested three persons in connection with the case. They were enquiring with a local mobile phone shop on the customers who had bought SIM cards from it when they stumbled upon two SIM cards with documents that appeared suspicious.

“The photocopy of the Aadhaar card submitted carried the address of a saloon, which piqued our suspicion,” said a police officer.

When the police reached the saloon, they managed to trace Babu Salmani, 23, who had submitted a copy of the card to buy a SIM card.

“On being interrogated, Salmani showed us the original Aadhaar card that had the saloon address as his residential address. He was working as a barber at the saloon but had managed to get the card by submitting documents of the owner’s wife,” said the officer.

Salmani told the police that he had procured the Aadhaar card from a pan shop in Kurla, run by 44-year-old Pandit Yadav, for Rs 300. Accordingly, the police arrested Yadav. The police officer said, “They would paste the names of the card seekers on ration cards and take a photocopy of it and then use it as residential proof to acquire Aadhaar and PAN cards.” Two of Yadav’s accomplices were also arrested in connection with the case.