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Updated: Oct 12, 2019 23:48 IST

Greater Noida: At least seven persons, including a former government-authorised agent from Haryana, were arrested for allegedly running a racket for making fake Aadhaar cards, fleecing scores of people in Surajpur. Police said Rahul, the alleged mastermind and former agent, who allegedly gave his licence to his relative Brijesh to run an unauthorised centre using a fake thumbprint of the agent.

The suspects were identified as Brajesh Kumar from Jewar, Kanchilal from Aligarh, Sagar and Raees Ahmad from New Delhi, Jabar Singh and Munendra from Bulandshahr and Rahul from Haryana. Police said they recovered at least 75 Aadhaar cards, 20 filled-up forms, 18 payment receipts, 16 PAN cards, two fingerprint scanners, five adapters, two retina scanners and ₹34,700.

Ranvijay Singh, superintendent of police (rural), Gautam Budh Nagar, said the police received information from informers about a gang making unauthorised Aadhaar cards in Malakpur village. “A team visited the spot and conducted a raid. The police arrested seven persons red-handed and also seized documents and Aadhaar cards,” he said.

Jitendra Kumar Deekhit, station house officer, Surajpur police station, said Rahul had earlier worked as a government-authorised agent in Haryana’s Sonepat. “He was involved in fraudulent activities and hence his licence was cancelled. However, he had knowledge on how to make Aadhaar cards. He started using camp mode on the UIDAI website and fraudulently making Aadhaar cards,” he said.

The SP said Rahul allegedly extended his network to Greater Noida and shared his credentials with other persons. “The gang had been operational since the last three months and they have made over 1,000 Aadhaar cards. This also breaches national security as some cards were made without verification of documents,” he said.

The gang members charged ₹250 per Aadhaar card from applicants, the police said.

Police said the suspects were allegedly also involved in making PAN cards fraudulently. “We have also recovered some PAN cards, which have different names on them but same photograph,” said the SHO.

The suspects were booked under Section 420 (cheating), Section 467 (forgery of valuable security), Section 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), Section 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The suspects were produced in court and sent to judicial custody. Police said they are investigating the matter further and more suspects might be arrested soon.