Over four lakh fake birth certificates and 5,000 fake death certificates were created using bogus names and addresses in at least 29 districts of Uttar Pradesh and 13 districts of Bihar. This widespread racket was uncovered in July this year in the Salon development block of Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. After four months of investigation, Rae Bareli police revealed these details in the charge sheet on Tuesday.

Finding the recipients of these certificates and preventing their misuse is now an enormous task facing the UP Police and other law enforcement organisations. According to police, statements made by 17 accused people—including the kingpin of Darbhanga in Bihar, Ravikesh Lal Yadav—were recorded during the investigation. In July, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) uncovered a fake birth certificate scam in Salon. The investigation revealed that over 19,184 fake birth certificates were created using false addresses from 12 villages. These certificates were linked to four villages in the Salon development block, exploiting the government’s Civil Registration System (CRS) portal. The scam came to light when documents were found with individuals, including some Bangladeshi nationals, who were arrested in different states.

At the Salon police station on July 17, Salon assistant development officer Jitendra Singh filed a formal complaint (FIR) against Vijay Yadav, the village development officer (VDO), Zeeshan, the operator of the Jan Suvidha Kendra, his son Riyaz, and a minor. Four named accused and thirteen others were arrested and charged throughout the investigation. Among them was Govind Kesari, the mastermind of the UP nexus and operator of the Jan Suvidha Kendra in Sonbhadra. The 54-page chargesheet against all of the defendants in the Salon case involving the forged birth certificate has already been filed in court, according to SP (Rae Bareli) Yashveer Singh. “The process of slapping UP Gangster Act is also on the verge of completion. We will also initiate the process of attaching properties procured through crime,” he added.

The Rae Bareli police have charged all the accused under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. These include Section 318 (4) for cheating, Section 319 (2) for impersonation during cheating, Section 336 (3) for forging electronic records, Section 337 for document forgery, Section 338 for forging valuable securities and Section 340 (2) for using forged documents or electronic records as genuine. Salon Police Station In-charge, JK Singh, who is investigating the case, stated that the mastermind, Ravikesh Lal Dev, revealed that the network had created over four lakh fake birth certificates and around 5,000 fake death certificates. These were generated using various portals, including the CRS portal and a separate fake portal designed by him. Singh added that the exact purpose behind producing these fake certificates is still unclear.

He claims that when the kingpin developed the fake portal to manufacture certificates, 4,000 people joined the nexus in UP and Bihar; however, only 1,500 users were active thereafter, and these fake certificates were created using fictitious names and locations. “We verified the addresses by sending teams to at least eight districts, including Moradabad, Kanpur, Pratapgrah, Chandauli, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Rampur and Sultanpur, but all the addresses were fake,” he added.