Andheri man held for issuing fake Aadhaar cards

Police have arrested a 23-year-old man from Andheri for creating counterfeit Aadhaar cards which he sold for ₹1,200.

Abdul Wahab Shaikh worked out of a small shop in Andheri (West) where he made Pan cards for people and eventually progressed to Aadhaar cards.

A constable attached with the DN Nagar police received a tip-off regarding the accused after which the police raided Shaikh’s shop on Friday evening and took him into custody.

The accused used to charge ₹1,200 to issue the Aadhaar card, the police told the court. They also found details including the Aadhaar numbers of the batch of cards that Shaikh had made recently.

Shaikh used equipment including a biometric scanning device to get the Aadhaar cards made. He told the investigating officials that he did not require the necessary documents ideally required to create a fake Aadhaar card.

Shaikh was produced before an Andheri metropolitan court on Saturday after he was booked for cheating under Indian Penal Code. The court has remanded him in police custody till May 21.

“We will contact the UIDAI after which it will be clear how many Aadhaar cards he made. The UIDAI will help us pinpoint how his modus operandi worked,” said P Ganame, senior inspector at DN Nagar police station.

This is not the first incident where the Mumbai police have cracked down on fake Aadhaar card creators. In February, the crime branch arrested two persons aged 29 and 24 for creating fake Aadhaar cards which they sold for ₹2,000 each.