ATS busts illegal Aadhaar centre in Bhosari, 4 held
The accused prepared fake documents required to be submitted for registration of Aadhaar cards or making changes but the enrolment slips generated had unique codes and station IDs of the Aadhaar card centres from Rajasthan which is now being investigated, says official
During a raid on a stationary shop on Wednesday, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Pimpri-Chinchwad unearthed a racket that was making bogus Aadhaar cards and arrested four persons, including a woman, from Bhosari.
The accused arrested have been identified as Shivraj Prakash Chambhare (40) and his wife Swati (36), who operated the ‘Krushna Xerox and Stationery’ shop at Bhosari and employees Dhondiba Prakash Shewalkar (24), a resident of Sai Anandnagar, Dhavadevasti; Ganesh Ramdas Yangad (23), a resident Alhatwadi, Moshi.
Police sub-inspector Shamveer Namdev Gaikwad (55) of special branch (SB) at Bhosari police station has filed a complaint.
All four have been arrested under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 420,465, 468,471,473,34 under the Aadhaar Act.
According to the police, the racket was functioning from Krishna Xerox belonging to the accused on the Pune-Nashik Highway. Besides their stationery shop, they ran their official Aadhaar Card Service Centre (Aadhaar Card Service Centre).
“The accused have been involved in giving fake documents here for the last two to three years and giving them to citizens. Besides they have carried unauthorised changes in various government documents,” the complaint stated.
Deputy commissioner of police (special branch) Shivaji Pawar said, “Aadhaar Niyantran Samiti’ of the district collector was informed about the suspicious activities at the shop after which the ATS and government officials jointly raided the shop on the afternoon of December 6.
“The accused prepared fake birth certificates, residence proofs and other documents required to be submitted for registration of Aadhaar cards or making changes but the enrolment slips generated had unique codes and station IDs of the Aadhaar card centres from Rajasthan which is now being investigated,” he said.
Pimpri-Chinchwad police have seized copies of electricity bills, PAN cards, voter ID cards, birth certificates, various rubber stamps and registers, and materials mandatory for Aadhaar registration like laptops, fingerprint scanners, Iris scanners, GPS and cameras.