Gujarat: At least two people have been held in Surat for allegedly forging documents including Aadhaar and PAN card, Voter IDs.
Police said that the documents were forged using a website, posing a serious threat to national security, a police official said.
The accused were accessing government database, which is a case of illegal authorisation and a serious issue, the official said.
According to officials, the accused forged around two lakh identity proof documents including Aadhaar and PAN cards. They were sold for Rs 15 to Rs 200 each.
Acting on a complaint received from the officials of a private sector bank that some persons got loans processed on the basis of fake documents and defaulted on repayment, six persons were arrested around two weeks back for forgery and cheating, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences) VK Parmar said.
One of the accused, identified as Prince Hemant Prasad, said that he accessed the website in question using his registered username and password to download forged Aadhaar and PAN cards on payment of Rs 15-50 per document, he said.
Based on the input, the police launched an investigation into the website. Officials said that fake IDs were used to get loans sanctioned and purchasing SIM cards.
"When questioned, they revealed to having forged around two lakh identity documents in two years. Somnath has studied till Class 5. He got technical help from certain people to carry out the illegal activity. The website was running since the last three years," officials said.
"This is a serious national security issue. They are not changing but accessing the government database and that is a case of illegal authorisation," the official said.
It is possible that many more persons are behind this, Parmar said, adding the police have frozen Rs 25 lakh in the bank accounts of Pramodkumar and his mother.
With inputs from PTI
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