The accused were identified as Md Yahiya (33), who operates a gift and novelties shop at Rahmath Nagar in Yousufguda; his associates, Venkatesh (35), a Mee-Seva centre worker from Yousufguda; and Md Saleem (40), a delivery executive from Qutbullapur. Hyderabad: The Special Operations Team (SOT) sleuths of RC Puram, along with Cyberabad cybercrime police, busted a gang involved in selling fake birth and death certificates on Wednesday.
Acting on specific information, police arrested Yahiya in Yousufguda on Wednesday and seized 71 fake birth and death certificates, along with a computer and printer. Once a photograph of an individual and details such as date of birth, location of birth are uploaded, it takes barely 10 seconds to generate a printable document resembling a birth or death certificate issued by Mee Seva,” said a cybercrime official. Saleem, meanwhile, used to bring him clients in return for a commission of Rs 500.
During the interrogation, Yahiya confessed that he had learnt about a particular website through Telegram, according to cybercrime police. “Yahiya has been selling fake certificates since 2025 and was charging Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500 for each certificate,” said a police officer. Based on his confession, police arrested Venkatesh and Saleem. The webiste allows users to register themselves and download printable birth and death certificates after entering an individual’s details and uploading a photograph. Yahiya also procured hologram-embedded paper, which is available with Mee Seva centre operators, through Venkatesh to print the fake certificates. The accused, along with the seized material, were handed over to Cyberabad cybercrime police for further investigation.