A case of fake birth certificates has surfaced in Rai Bareli district, Uttar Pradesh. Surprisingly, more than 10,000 fake birth certificates were issued in the town of Salon. These certificates were issued in the names of villages where the residents don't belong to that religion or caste. Now, agencies have become alert and started investigations. The local legislator has called it a conspiracy to change the demography.
Currently, in the case of thousands of fake certificates made in the Salon area of the district, the village development officer along with three other people, including the operator of the public utility center, have been arrested. The UP ATS has also initiated an investigation to see if the fake certificates issued to the fake addresses are part of a deeper conspiracy.
The story of creating fake birth certificates begins at a public service center in the town of Salon, Rai Bareli, operated by Jiashan, the son of Mohammad Riaz. Right across from this center, on the other side of the road, is the seed storage center of Mohammad Riaz. This means on one side of the road is the public service center and on the other side is Mohammad Riaz’s house and shop. It was reported that the fake birth certificates created in Salon were made at this public service center.
It is noteworthy that the majority of fake birth certificates were issued from the area overseen by Village Development Officer Vijay Yadav. Interestingly, Jiashan, who managed the public service center where the birth certificates were registered, rented his house to Village Development Officer Vijay Yadav.
Source: aajtak
When the 'Aaj Tak' team arrived at the scene and spoke with local residents, they said that Village Development Officer Vijay Yadav had a good relationship with Jiashan and his family, which is why Vijay had given his CUG number to Jiashan. Jiashan used the OTPs coming to the CUG number to issue fake birth certificates.
The villages under the jurisdiction of Village Development Officer Vijay Yadav included Gopal Anant Pur / Lahurepur / Sirsara / Nooruddinpur / Jamalpur and Palahi. The most birth certificates were issued for Nooruddinpur. As the 'Aaj Tak' team continued its inquiries, it reached Nooruddinpur village, located on the Allahabad-Prayagraj highway.
Upon arriving in this village for more information, they spoke to Bhupendra Singh, the husband of the village head, Sanju. Bhupendra stated that the total population of the Gram Panchayat is only 7 to 8 thousand, but the authorities informed them that more than 12,000 birth certificates had been issued with the address of Nooruddinpur village. This means more birth certificates were issued in the name of the village than its actual population.
Bhupendra Singh explains that all the birth certificates were issued online, but they were not recorded in the family register maintained by the head. This means the village head wasn't even aware of how many birth certificates were issued in the name of their village. Yet, in online registration, more than 12,200 people's places of birth were recorded as Nooruddinpur. With these birth certificates, various government schemes can be exploited, and Aadhaar and voter ID cards can also be made.
Source: aajtak
Next, the 'Aaj Tak' team reached Palahi village, where they found another strange story. According to the village head Deepak, the total population of this village is 4,500, but 819 fake birth certificates were issued with the address of this village. The strangest part is that there is only one Muslim family in this village, but among the 819 birth certificates issued, the majority are Muslims. This means one Muslim family lives in the village, but the online registrations depict hundreds of Muslim families showing their birthplace as this village. It's worth noting that this also falls under Village Development Officer Vijay Yadav's jurisdiction.
When the issue of fake birust certificates came to light, Vijay Yadav tried to protect himself by filing a report at the Salon police station. In his report, Vijay admitted that Jiashan issued 25 to 30,000 fake birth certificates using his login ID, without his knowledge. These certificates were issued to people from different states and regions.
The case was exposed on the basis of a complaint filed by ADO Panchayat Jitendra Singh, resulting in an FIR against Village Development Officer Vijay Yadav, Riaz Khan, his son Jiashan Khan. Four people, including Village Development Officer Vijay Yadav, Jiashan, and Riaz Khan, have been arrested and sent to jail. This has been confirmed by Arpit Upadhyay (CDO Rai Bareli).
Source: aajtak
Meanwhile, this matter has also become a heated political issue. The local BJP legislator, Ashok Kumar Kori, stated that this is a large-scale conspiracy to influence the electoral base of the area. He suggested the fake birth certificates might be part of an extensive plan for fraudulent voting in the 2024 General Elections. This isn't just a district-level issue; a comprehensive investigation should be conducted across the state. If so many fake birth certificates were created in just one town of Rai Bareli, imagine what kind of fraud is happening across the state.
Currently, the ATS has been assigned to investigate this case thoroughly. Senior officials from Lucknow have arrived in Salon for this purpose. Now, the verification of online birth certificates issued from all Gram Panchayats in the district is being carried out. After compiling the entire data, the ATS will expand the scope of its investigation. Additionally, there is also suspicion that the fake birth certificates might have been used to provide citizenship to illegal infiltrators from other states or to settle members of terrorist organizations in UP.
