THANE: The crime branch police have busted a ‘

’ racket and arrested six people for allegedly

and providing bogus guarantors to help around 150 crime accused get relief from various courts in Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai.

DCP (crime) Deepak Devraj said the arrested six are part of a bigger cartel arranging for sureties by luring people with money. He said the gang fabricated ration cards, tax receipts and Aadhaar cards needed to be produced by a surety in court. The police said the gang charged anywhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 for a surety each.

Advocate Mubin Solkar told TOI that a person can stand surety for only one accused at a time. “Once a surety is discharged with the endorsement of cancellation (on the ration card), he or she can then stand surety for another person,” he said. Sureties can be required to be “solvent” to the extent of the bail amount. “The Bombay HC has held that a surety can show his solvency by producing property ownership documents too and need not insist on a solvency certificate, which is issued by the collector's office,” Solkar said.

The DCP said that following a tip-off, Ulhasnagar crime branch kept vigil in the vicinity of Kalyan court. When the police picked up three persons on suspicion and questioned them, they spilled the beans. He said that based on the information given by the trio, police raided their hideout in Kalyan and recovered 45 rubber stamps, 51 bogus ration cards, 318 tax receipts of gram panchayats and fake Aadhaar cards. They also arrested three more people.

Senior inspector Mahesh Tarde said the gang would lure bogus guarantors with money and then using their photos, fabricate documents. He said the gang got the ration cards made at a photocopy centre in Bhiwandi and other documents at a printing press in Ulhasnagar. The rubber stamps were made in Solapur, he added. ACP Bajirao Bhosle said action will be taken against owners of these establishments. More arrests are likely as police, using the photos given in the documents, are set to search for the people who stood as sureties.

—With inputs from Swati Deshpande