The Ernakulam Rural police have formed a dedicated team to track down centres engaged in the production of fake Aadhaar cards after two such centres were busted and two persons, both from Assam, were arrested in quick succession earlier this week.
The centres were found functioning in the garb of mobile phone and accessories firms. Fake Aadhaar cards, laptops, printers, mobile phones, covers for lamination of fake cards, and ₹75,000 were seized during the two separate raids. The firms were found to have exploited the addresses provided by customers while buying SIM cards for churning out fake Aadhaar cards with photos of irregular migrants.
The raids were part of the ongoing intensified campaign of the Rural police to detect irregular migrants since the start of the New Year. Around 40 irregular migrants, almost all of them suspected to be from Bangladesh, have been detained. Almost all of them were found to be carrying Aadhaar cards, and the probe into that had led to the busting of fake Aadhaar card manufacturing centres.
While enforcement agencies had all along known the presence of fake Aadhaar card manufacturing centres outside Kerala, especially along the border areas, the presence of such centres in the district has come as a revelation of sorts. “This is a very serious issue going beyond security threats posed by irregular migrants. Such centres can be exploited by criminals to hide their identities or by those planning to engage in a criminal act. We are also liasioning with our counterparts across the State in the drive to crack down on such centres,” said Vaibhav Saxena, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural).
Unlike genuine Aadhaar cards, no authentication is involved in the production of fake cards, making it possible to issue cards in any given address with only the photo of the client approaching such centres. The police suspect that more such centres are functioning in the district.
Published – March 13, 2025 09:08 pm IST