PAN

Aadhar card

voter identity card

busted

Meghwadi

illegal

immigrants

counterfeit

: A notorious gang involved in counterfeiting important citizens' identification documents likeandwasby thepolice on Friday following a month-long operation.Senior Inspector Sudhir Nigudkar told Mirror Online that four persons who were running thebusiness which has a direct implication on national security, have so far been arrested in the case. They have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 465 (forgery), 467 ( whoever forges a document which purports to be a valuable security or a will), 468 ( forgery for the purpose of cheating) 471 (using as genuine a forged), along with the Information Technology (IT) act and the State Emblem of India ( Prohibition of Improper Use) Act.Sources at the Meghwadi police (Jogeshwari east) said that an officer from the Anti Terror Cell (ATC) of the police station was tipped off about the gang following the arrest of two illegal Bangladeshifrom the area, a month ago. The illegal immigrants had in their possession PAN and Aadhar cards, which turned out to be bogus. "While the names and addresses in those identity documents were found to be genuine, the photographs were different," sources said.Their questioning revealed that they had procured the cards from a shop in Meghwadi area. Further investigation revealed that the racket ran their operation from three different centres and used to issue the forged identity cards for a paltry sum of Rs 250-300 each. Finally, the three centres were raided on Friday and the police recovered several computers, printers, pen drives, PVC blocks with un-printed Aadhar cards, savings books and other stationery used to print and produce fake documents.The four accused were identified as Aftabali Ayum Ali Muchale ( 20), Javed Mujawar (35), Salim Jamir Ahmed Shaikh (31) and Aarif Alam Beig (30).During further investigation, the police learnt that the foursome had earlier worked in Maha E Seva Kendras, a scheme launched by the state government to provide online services at the doorstep of citizens. "Using the expertise honned at these centres, they launched theirbusiness for profit," sources said.The police are questioning the accused amid suspicion that they could be connected to a larger cross border syndicate in providing national identification documents to illegal immigrants.