MANGALURU: The Mangaluru City Police have busted a racket involving the use of forged documents to secure bail for accused persons in serious criminal cases. The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested five individuals involved in this operation, which spanned across Mangaluru and Udupi districts and included over 10 known cases.
The accused are Abdul Rahman (46) of Mulki, Nishanth Kumar (28), of Thokkottu, Nithin Kumar (31) of Bantwal, Hasan Riyaz of Bantwal and Mohammed Hanif (39) of Kavoor Palanir, Mangaluru.
Reddy said the CCB received credible information that certain individuals in Mangaluru produced fake Aadhaar cards and land records (Pahani documents) and presented them as genuine before various departments and the court.
Following this lead, police detained Abdul Rahman. Upon interrogation, it was revealed that he had assisted accused individuals in obtaining bail using these forged documents. Further investigation led to the arrest of Nishanth Kumar, an employee at a computer centre in Kodyalbail, who allegedly helped Abdul Rahman in producing the fake documents.
According to Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy, the accused had successfully used fake documents to obtain bail in cases, including a murder case and a case registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The modus operandi of the accused was both calculated and deceptive. They would randomly access Aadhaar cards and property records from the Bhoomi land records portal and then digitally alter these documents by replacing the original photographs and details with those of the impersonators. This tampering allowed them to present themselves in court as genuine sureties, deceiving the judiciary into granting bail to various criminal accused. Their activities intensified after the court system implemented a rule allowing only one surety per Aadhaar card to curb repeat sureties, which they circumvented using this forgery technique.
Three brokers were found to be actively running this network, coordinating with forgers and impersonators to present fake identities during bail hearings. In one instance, the misuse of land documents resulted in a court ordering the attachment of the property of an innocent landowner whose records had been fraudulently used. The victim, unaware of the crime until the court's action, was forced to approach the judiciary to clear his name.
Commissioner Reddy urged citizens to proactively verify their land records and Aadhaar data, warning that innocent individuals could become victims if their documents are misused in such fraudulent schemes. The police are continuing the investigation, and more arrests are expected in the coming days as the full extent of the racket is uncovered.