New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) An inter-state racket allegedly involved in preparing and selling forged government identity documents through a website has been unearthed with the arrest of two persons, an official said on Monday.
According to the Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit, the accused have been identified as Bideshi Saw, a resident of Daman and Diu, and Santosh Kumar, a resident of Patna in Bihar.
“The duo operated the website bkprint.in, which enabled users to generate forged Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards, PAN-related documents, residence certificates, caste certificates, birth and death certificates and other government document-like records after making online payments,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) Vinit Kumar said in a statement.
The forged documents closely resembled genuine government-issued documents and were capable of being misused for identity theft, impersonation, cheating, financial fraud and even for obtaining genuine government documents on the basis of forged records.
“The case came to light during social media monitoring and cyber patrolling when information was received that forged government documents were being prepared and supplied online through the website,” the DCP said.
During verification, a team found that the portal was openly offering services for generating Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards, PAN-related documents, residence certificates, caste certificates, birth and death certificates and several other document-like records.
To verify the information, the IFSO team created a dummy user account using a mobile phone number. The website required users to recharge a digital wallet before availing its services. Accordingly, investigators transferred Rs 100 through the UPI ID displayed on the website.
After the wallet recharge was confirmed, police successfully generated forged Aadhaar and voter identity cards by entering fictitious personal details and uploading a photograph.
On examining the forged Aadhaar document, investigators found that the QR code merely stored the information manually entered by the user and was not linked to the official Aadhaar database, conclusively establishing that the documents were fake. The investigation further revealed that the mobile number and UPI account used for receiving payments on the website were linked to Saw.
A team was constituted. Following extensive technical investigation, digital analysis and field verification, the team apprehended Saw from Daman and Diu.
During sustained interrogation, Saw disclosed that he was facilitating the preparation of forged documents through bkprint.in in exchange for online payments. He also revealed that the backend operations of the website were being managed by Kumar from Patna. Based on technical evidence and further investigation, police traced Kumar to Patna and apprehended him too.
A preliminary examination of the digital devices recovered from Kumar revealed website source code, hosting configurations, customer records, technical files, payment-related information and chats exchanged with Saw, establishing his active involvement in the development, maintenance and backend management of the websites used for preparing forged documents.
Police said the accused also managed another website, bkprint.xyz.
Police said the accused followed a simple but effective modus operandi. Customers were required to recharge a digital wallet before placing orders. After payment, users could enter arbitrary personal details and upload photographs to generate forged Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards and other government document-like records.
“The accused allegedly generated QR codes that merely stored the information entered by customers, giving the forged documents an appearance similar to genuine government-issued identity documents despite having no connection with official government databases,” the officer said.
According to police, such forged documents could be misused for identity theft, impersonation, cheating, financial fraud and obtaining genuine government documents on the basis of forged records.
Police said Saw operated the website, received online payments through the linked UPI account, facilitated preparation and supply of forged government documents and coordinated with Kumar for the backend operation of the portal.
Kumar designed, developed and maintained the backend infrastructure of bkprint.in and bkprint.xyz, managed website hosting, source code, customer database and technical operations, and enabled generation of forged documents.
Police recovered two mobile phones, a laptop and a QR code sound box from Saw. From Kumar, police recovered a laptop allegedly containing the website source code and technical records, a mobile phone containing chats with Saw, digital records relating to bkprint.in and bkprint.xyz, including source code, hosting details, customer database, technical files and payment-related information.
Police said further investigation is underway to identify other associates. PTI BM BM DV DV
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