Surat: ‘Denied house on rent due to his religion’, man assumes fake identity; arrested

Shaikh belongs to Bardhaman district in West Bengal and had moved from Mumbai, where he was living with his family, to Surat a couple of years ago. He was working at a spa in Surat.

Acting on a tip-off, Surat Special Operations group officials raided his rented house in an apartment complex at Canal Road in Jahangirpura area.

Police said Shaikh had assumed the identity of “Pradeep” and had got a fake Aadhaar card made to reflect the same.

On questioning, Shaikh confessed to have carried out the forgery, police added.

Officials also seized Shaikh’s PAN card and a copy of his driving licence before handing him over to Rander police station.

Shaikh has been arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 319 (crime of cheating by personation), 336(2) (creating false document), 336 (3) (using the false document as genuine one for the purpose of cheating), and 336 (forgery of valuable security or will etc).

Rander police inspector R J Chaudhary said, “Shaikh shifted to Surat a couple of years ago, while his brothers and other family members are still in Mumbai. Earlier, he was staying in a Muslim locality. Around six months ago, he brought his girlfriend over to Surat and has been searching for a rented house in a posh locality to live with her. He told us that on being unable to find a house due to his Muslim identity, he got a fake Aadhaar card made and changed his first name to Pradeep.”

Chaudhary further said, “We are verifying his documents and his address in his home town in West Bengal. We have also recorded the statement of the woman living with Shaikh and found that she was staying here willfully.”