Fake Aadhaar, ration cards found in Bhiwandi AIMIM chief's office

Police have recovered fake Aadhaar and ration cards from the private office of Bhiwandi unit chief of AIMIM Khalid Guddu and his brother, who are currently in judicial custody in extortion and other cases, an official said on Friday.

Police had last month arrested Guddu, his brother Bablu and their aides for the offences registered against them under various IPC sections, including 364A (kidnapping for ransom) and 384 (extortion), besides the Arms Act, the official said.

"During the investigation against them, the police recovered 38 blank ration cards with rubber stamps marked on them, and 30 Aadhaar cards from their private office in Bhiwandi," DCP Zone-II Rajkumar Shinde said.

"When the blank ration cards were sent to the authorities for verification, it was told that they were not issued by the office and the seal on them did not belong to it," he added.

"When the 30 Aadhaar cards were verified, it was found that four of them were fake. When two persons, whose names were found on the cards, were called for questioning, it came to light that the names, addresses and photos were fake," he said.

During the interrogation, Guddu told the police that these cards were made for election purposes, Shinde said.

Following this, the police registered an offence under IPC sections 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 472 (making or possessing counterfeit seal), 420 (cheating) and others against Guddu and his brother, he added.

Half a dozen cases of extortion have been registered against the duo and their associates, the official said.