On Thursday, former Member of Parliament and senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya exposed a major scam of fake Bangladeshi birth certificates in Maharashtra. Somaiya claimed that 52 Bangladeshis had obtained birth certificates illegally, stating they were born in India.
Somaiya ensured that six FIRs were lodged against these 52 people in the state, with the accused staying in different cities of Akola district. The Bangladeshi nationals reportedly used forged documents to acquire the birth certificates.
The FIRs were lodged at various police stations within the district, namely Akot, Telhara, Barshitakali, Ramdaspeth (Akola city), Murtijapur, and Patur, under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), i.e., 3(5), 229, 236, 237, 318(4), 336(3), and 340(2).
Somaiya said, "This is a case of a Bangladeshi birth certificate forgery. Six FIRs have been registered against 52 Bangladesh infiltrators." He also issued a list of these infiltrators, which comprises about 12 women who had also obtained fake birth certificates.
Somaiya earlier this month uncovered a bigger illegal birth certificate scam, accusing it of facilitating thousands of Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants to be granted Indian citizenship by fraud. He said that the scam had started in Amravati where 4,500 bogus registrations were found. The extent of the scam has spread statewide with more than 1.3 lakh fake birth certificates issued, Somaiya said.
Somaiya has demanded that these certificates be canceled forthwith, the officials who are involved in corruption be arrested, and the entire system of birth registration be overhauled. He has also given the police 478 pages of evidence to corroborate his assertions.
"This is the most dangerous infiltration scam in Maharashtra's history," Somaiya claimed.
As a response to increasing alarm about illegal immigrants, Minister of State for Home, Yogesh Kadam, informed the Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday that the state government has directed builders and contractors in Mumbai to take care not to hire Bangladeshis for their work. If any Bangladeshi citizens are found working on the projects, it will be up to the developers to report them to the police, Kadam added.
In January, the Maharashtra government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the issue of the issuance of birth and death certificates where applications were filed late, as a fallout of mounting complaints against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in some parts of the state.
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