The seller’s Aadhaar card had the photo and number of the alleged fraudster, but only the name on the fraudster’s card was shown as ‘Rajesh Chugh’ – the actual plot owner. The name on the document had been changed with help from an Aadhaar card centre operator.
An FIR has been registered against six people and three of them, including the Aadhaar card centre operator and two scamsters who created fake documents, have been arrested.
Chugh had bought the land in 1988. A few locals used to take care of it. This October, Chugh said a local called him up to ask if he had sold the plot. A check of land records showed that the plot was transferred to Ganesh Babu Bhoir, the mastermind of this scam, said the police.
Enquiries with the registration office revealed that a sale deed was registered in August. The seller’s name was the same as his – Rajesh Laxmandas Chugh, but the Aadhaar card bore someone else’s photo and its number was not his. “Someone forged my identity,” he has said in his complaint lodged at Kulgaon police station.
The police found that documents submitted seemed genuine, but a probe revealed that the forged Aadhaar card of the person shown as seller was indeed the identity document of Deepak Shankar Shinde who had got his name on his Aadhaar card changed to ‘Rajesh Laxmandas Chugh’ – to tally with the plot owner’s name.
“Knowing that change in name on the Aadhaar card is not easy, Shinde colluded with the Aadhaar card centre operator Bhavesh Bhagat of Sai Enterprises at Badlapur,” said a police official.
The police said the fraud was such that there was little scope for the authorities to detect it. Once the Aadhaar card number was punched into the system, all details were flashed on the screen – the seller’s name matched with the original plot owner’s, it had the photograph of the fraudster.
The police have arrested Bhoir (new ‘owner’), Shinde (whose Aadhaar details were used) and Bhavesh Bhagat of the Aadhaar centre. Two people who signed as witnesses are wanted.
The owner, said that the central government must take note of this case. “Preventive action is needed so no one can tamper with Aadhaar card details,” he said.
