Man arrested for forging documents, ID proofs for financial gains
The accused, identified as Ajazkhan Pappankhan Pathan (27), a class 10 graduate, was allegedly forging documents online, including birth and death certificates, and selling them for financial gains.
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While these 29 fake documents were detected during raids at the agency on Monday, the number has gone up to 110 after his arrest, said ACP cyber crime Jitendra Yadav. So far, around 60 fake voter ID cards, 40 birth and death certificates, and eight Aadhaar cards and two electricity bills have been seized.
A 27-year-old man who ran an agency called ‘Honest Services’ in Ahmedabad has been arrested on charges of forgery, identity theft and causing disappearance of evidence and sent to five-day police custody Tuesday.
The accused, identified as Ajazkhan Pappankhan Pathan (27), a class 10 graduate, was allegedly forging documents online, including birth and death certificates, and selling them for financial gains.
The FIR, which lists the period of offence to be from February 1, 2023 until January 1, 2024, alleges that Pathan forged documents online on several websites, including 16 fake online-made voter ID cards, two online-edited Aadhaar cards and 11 fake birth and death certificates made online.
Pathan was charging Rs 300 for a fake Aadhaar card, Rs 700 for a fake voter ID card, and Rs 2,000 for a fake birth or death certificate, the FIR says. The police estimate that Pathan allegedly sold 29 fake documents for nearly Rs 3.38 lakh.
While these 29 fake documents were detected during raids at the agency on Monday, the number has gone up to 110 after his arrest, said ACP cyber crime Jitendra Yadav. So far, around 60 fake voter ID cards, 40 birth and death certificates, and eight Aadhaar cards and two electricity bills have been seized.
According to police, the birth and death certificates seized from Pathan had the seal of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Vadodara Municipal Corporation.
Yadav said that the documents were being auto-generated from websites and police interrogation of the accused revealed a list of at least 27 such websites he was using. “We have been tracking him since the past 10-15 days based on inputs we received. He would sell the fake documents that would then be used by the locals in loan applications or for getting electricity connections. We are yet to determine where else these fake documents were used. He also deleted several of these fake documents,” added Yadav.
An FIR was lodged on January 1 based on a complaint by an unarmed Lokrakshak Dal police employee of cyber crime police station Salmankhan Dalelkhan. Pathan has been charged under IPC sections 465 (forgery), 466 (forgery of record of court or of public register), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471(using a forged document as a genuine fraudulently or dishonestly), 114 (abetment), 201 (disappearance of evidence) and under Information Technology Act Section 66C (punishment for identity theft).
According to the FIR, Pathan’s has allegedly stated that he had a valid authorised licence to assist in applying for PAN cards. He had then gotten in touch with a Bihar resident, Deepak Kumar, after watching his YouTube videos, who had then provided Pathan with a website with login credentials where fake documents such as Aadhaar card, birth and death registrations and voter-ID cards can be auto-generated online, in exchange for payment from Pathan.
Pathan also got in touch with a Madhya Pradesh resident, Prashant Kumavat, who created false birth certificates of Ahmedabad in exchange for money. Similarly, Pathan got in touch with another person named Alam from Uttar Pradesh who provided Pathan with the user id and password for a website where fake documents could be generated online, in exchange for payment.
ACP Yadav said the police are verifying the information shared by Pathan and coordinating with the respective state police forces to find the whereabouts of the three others named.
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