The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : City police uncover huge forged document racket

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Friday, Jan 09, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

City police uncover huge forged document racket

Staff Reporter

Bangalore police chief fears widespread ramifications

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Recovered: Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari displaying some of the forged documents at the press conference in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: The city police have uncovered a forged document racket. The forged documents include General Power of Attorney (GPA), income declaration certificates, voter ID cards, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes declaration certificate, degree and SSLC certificates. Seven members of a 14-member gang allegedly involved in the racket have been arrested.

“You name it, they have it,” said Police Commissioner Shankar M. Bidari. Among the documents seized are fake GPAs relating to land transactions. “Some of the documents are in the name of people who have died; you find a document that dates back to 1887,” Mr. Bidari told presspersons on Thursday. “We have unearthed an organised and widespread racket. Many innocents have suffered as the arrested have held society to ransom,” he added.

Police came upon the racket while acting on complaints about creation of fraudulent property documents. “Acting on my guidelines in investigating cases related to land transactions, the police came upon this racket,” Mr. Bidari said. Police inspector Ratnakar Shetty stumbled on the racket while investigating two specific complaints. “The accused have been in the business for over 20 years. They know the law, procedures and formats for issuing of certificates and documents,” Mr. Bidari said. Those arrested are Abdul Khader (65), Rahamatullah Khan and Lakshmipathy (39), Ramachandra (39), Syed Arif (42), Ashfaq (41) and Lakshman (44). Khader, the alleged mastermind, has a shop in the City Civil Court premises. “Changes have been made to Revenue records based on the gang’s fraudulent documents,” Mr. Bidari said. Fake documents include de-notification of land, site allotment, plan sanction and possession certificate of the Bangalore Development Authority.

The accused allegedly produced fake telephone bills, water bills and electricity bills for getting SIM cards from agencies such as BSNL, Reliance and Vodafone. The police also seized fake degree certificates, transfer certificates related to schools and fake experience certificates.

Mr. Bidari said the police are yet to assess the loss to the State. “It will take six months to find out ramifications of the racket, including the number of fake documents and people who used it. The Central Crime Branch has been asked to investigate further,” Mr. Bidari said.

The city police would also write to the Government for a need of a mechanism to help people detect fake documents, Mr. Bidari said.

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