UP STF busts interstate gang making fake documents for railway, Army exam candidates

Police sources on Monday said the Varanasi unit of the STF raided Jamui village of Ballia city police station on Sunday and arrested a fraudster named Shashi Bhushan Upadhyay. A case has been registered in Ballia city police station on the complaint of STF Inspector Puneet Parihar.

Citing the FIR, they said the Varanasi unit of the STF had received information that candidates residing in UP from the areas around Ballia district are using fake residence certificates of West Bengal, especially Kolkata, to appear in competitive examinations. An organised gang is working on this, they added.

Sources said during the investigation it was revealed that a person named Shashi Bhushan Upadhyay gets fake residence certificates made for people to help them appear in Army, railway and other government job examinations.

He said on Sunday, based on information, the STF arrested Upadhyay, a resident of Chandpur village of Bansdih police station area of Ballia district, and recovered a large number of fake residence certificates from him.

According to the FIR, Upadhyay told te police during interrogation that he gets fake residence certificates of West Bengal, especially Kolkata, made for the youth of Ballia and surrounding areas. On the basis of this, they appear in Army and railway recruitment examinations in West Bengal and northeastern states. He used to charge up to Rs 3 lakh for making one certificate.

According to sources, Upadhyay gets fake residence certificates and Aadhaar cards made with the help of people named Mithun Karmakar, Manoj Kumar Singh and Rajan Singh, who are residents of West Bengal.

Upadhyay also revealed during interrogation that he has got more than 1,000 fake residence certificates made so far. He himself joined the Army in 2000 on the basis of fake documents. Fearing that he would be caught during the certificate verification, he left the training midway and fled, the FIR said. PTI COR CDN KSS KSS