SURAT, September 5: Two individuals have been apprehended in Surat, Gujarat, on charges of forging various documents, including Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and voter IDs, by utilizing a website, thereby posing a significant threat to national security, as stated by a police official.
The accused had gained unauthorized access to government databases, which constitutes a case of illegal authorization and raises serious concerns, noted the official on Monday. It was revealed that the culprits had forged approximately two lakh identity proof documents, such as Aadhaar and PAN cards, and sold them for prices ranging from ₹15 to ₹200 each.
The investigation into this fraudulent activity began when officials from a private sector bank reported that certain individuals had obtained loans using counterfeit documents and subsequently defaulted on their repayments. This led to the arrest of six individuals for forgery and cheating about two weeks ago, according to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences) V.K. Parmar.
During the course of interrogation, one of the arrested individuals, Prince Hemant Prasad, disclosed that he had accessed the mentioned website using his registered username and password to procure forged Aadhaar and PAN cards by making payments ranging from ₹15 to ₹50 per document. Acting on this information, the police initiated an inquiry into the website.
The fraudulent identity cards obtained from the website through payment were used for various purposes, including obtaining bank loans and purchasing SIM cards, the official stated. Somnath Pramodkumar, a resident of Ganganagar in Rajasthan, who was linked to multiple mobile numbers found on the website, was arrested through technical surveillance and is currently considered the prime suspect behind the operation.
Furthermore, another individual, Premvirsinh Thakur, a resident of Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, who was associated with the creation of the website, was arrested a couple of days ago. The police have discovered that these individuals managed to forge around two lakh identity documents over a span of two years. Somnath, who had completed his education up to Class 5, received technical assistance from certain individuals to carry out this illegal activity. The website had been operational for the past three years, according to authorities.
“This is a serious national security issue. They are not changing but accessing the government database, and that is a case of illegal authorization,” emphasized the official. It is possible that there may be more individuals involved in this operation, Parmar added. The police have frozen ₹25 lakh in the bank accounts of Pramodkumar and his mother as part of their ongoing investigation.
