Police raid multiple locations in Bengal to bust fake birth-death certificate racket

Kolkata, July 23 (IANS) The West Bengal Police have been conducting raids and search operations since Thursday morning at the offices of different panchayats and municipalities in the state to bust fake birth and death certificate rackets that mushroomed in the state before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise began ahead of the recently concluded Assembly polls.

Among the places where such raids and search operations are being conducted are Suri, Rampurhat and Dubrajpur in Birbhum district, Cooch Behar town in Cooch Behar district and the industrial township in West Burdwan district, among others.

“During the Special Intensive Revision exercise in the voter list, there were allegations of issuing fake birth certificates across the state. It is claimed that birth certificates were issued irregularly and that fake birth and death certificate rackets mushroomed in the state with active involvement of sections within the different panchayats and municipalities. Allegations also surfaced that this illegal activity flourished because of attempts to include the names of fake voters into the voters list. Now the administration has taken a stand on it and decided to bust and finish these rackets from the roots,” said a senior officer of the state police.

Accordingly, police raids started from Thursday morning and are currently underway in various municipalities and panchayats. The investigators are talking to the staff in charge of birth and death registrations at the relevant offices.

The police are also taking the birth and death registration registers and related documents of the municipalities and panchayats into their custody for further and detailed examination in the matter. It will be verified whether any birth certificate has been issued illegally or whether the certificate has been issued on the basis of any fake document.

If necessary, the state police official said. The investigating officers will also question senior officials in the matter.

In fact, after the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled West Bengal government came to power, several new rules were introduced for issuing birth and death certificates. To avoid fake birth and death certificates, the state government also introduced new rules for registration of documents. A fresh notification in the matter was issued after the cabinet meeting.

–IANS

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