10 arrested for forging fake Aadhaar, PAN cards

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) attached to Bengaluru division in a special drive arrested 10 men on Monday for their alleged involvement in forging fake identity documents like PAN (permanent account number) cards, Aadhaar, vehicle registration certificates (RC) and driving license.

The accused are: Kamalesh Kumar Bavalia, (33), Lokesh (37), Satyanarayana (50), Darshan (25), Sridhar (31), Chandrappa (28), Abhilash (27), Tejas (30), Aditya Bharati (35) and Nirmal Kumar (56). They all are the residents of Bengaluru. According to reports, one of the accused is a former employee of Rosmerta Technologies, the firm which has got the contract to print these ID cards. Police said that the accused stole two years old data. "The fake document racket came to light with the arrest of Kamalesh Kumar Bavalia. As we received a tip-off, our team raided his residence and found his whole setup with which he carried out his fake ID racket business. Later during interrogation he disclosed the names of his associates," said the police statement.

The CCB team also seized 1,000 fake Aadhaar cards, 9000 PAN cards, 12,250 RC cards and 6,240 voter IDs, which do not have government seals. Three laptops and Rs 60,000 in cash was also seized from the accused.

Police said that based on the investigation, it came to light that two of the accused from Shantinagar own 'Brigade Prints'. Police also found some printing equipment at the residence of Lokesh.

Joint Commissioner Crime (Bengaluru) Sandeep Patil told reporters that this gang was in touch with several vehicle lifters and helped them to get forged RCs so that they can sell the stolen vehicles in other parts of the country. "This is a high profile development and case. Investigation is on to know the connections of the gang," Patil said.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC and further investigation is on.