AHMEDABAD: A major forgery racket was exposed in Surat, where an Odisha-based MBA student used fake signatures and stamps of BJP MLA Kumar Kanani from the Varachha constituency.
The scam ran for three and a half months before Kapodara police cracked down, arresting a 26-year-old suspect. Authorities are now searching for the mastermind behind the forged documents.
Kapodara police busted the fraud operation after discovering that a man had forged MLA signatures and official seals to manipulate Aadhaar and PAN card details, uploading the falsified data onto government portals. Acting on a tip-off, they raided a spot near Saurashtra Circle and arrested Deepak Patnaik.
Patnaik not only faked MLA signatures and seals but also used them to alter official records, charging customers for fraudulent modifications. He treated counterfeit seals as legitimate, embedding them into government forms before uploading them online.
During the raid, police seized a cache of forged materials, including signature seals of Varachha MLA Kumar Kanani, Aadhaar cards, a printer, a computer, filled Aadhaar application forms, and blank forms—all linked to Patnaik’s illicit operation.
A police probe revealed that Deepak Patnaik procured fake stamps in the name of Varachha MLA Kumar Kanani from an unidentified source in Sambalpur, Odisha. He set up a rented office near the Shanidev temple, opposite Ksham Society in Surat’s Kapodara, turning it into a hub for forging official records.
For three and a half months, he manipulated Aadhaar and PAN card details, charging Rs 200 per form. When customers lacked proof of residence, he bypassed verification by uploading falsified forms directly to government portals using his office computer.
Surat DCP Alok Kumar stated that a police team cracked the operation within five hours. Patnaik, an MBA student at Indira Gandhi University, was caught with over 20 filled forms bearing fake signatures and stamps, along with 25 blank ones. The discovery of an Aadhaar photocopy belonging to MLA Kumar Kanani intensified the investigation.
Reacting to the fraud, MLA Kanani emphasised the gravity of counterfeiting government representatives' documents. He warned, “Fake signature stamps hold dangerous potential.” He also praised the swift police action.