New Delhi: A disability board member, a senior malaria inspector and staffers of the CMO in Uttar Pradesh were among nine people arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly running an interstate network that forged Persons with Disabilities (PwD) certificates to help students secure college admissions. The racket allegedly used AI tools to manipulate Aadhaar cards, change students’ addresses to UP districts and then exploit the UDID system to generate fake disability certificates.
Among those arrested was Roshan Kumar (34), who runs an educational consultancy in Noida. “Kuldeep, 28, a contractual computer operator working on the UDID portal at the CMO in Bareilly, was arrested on Sept 3. Dr Laxmi Kant Saxena (60), a member of the Bareilly disability board, and Sher Singh Solanki (40) were subsequently apprehended. Jai Prakash Shukla (48), senior malaria inspector at Siddharth Nagar and working in its divyang office, was arrested on Sept 10. Several lakh rupees were allegedly routed through his account and that of an acquaintance, Surendra Rastogi, who was apprehended on Sept 19.
Police said the certificates were being used for admission to BTech, JBT and other undergraduate courses at Delhi University under the PwD quota. During interrogation, police said Lalit disclosed that students’ personal details were sourced through education consultants. Police seized his phone containing chats and documents linked to disability certificates, along with the desktop allegedly used to prepare forged medical reports,” said DCP (North) Niharika Bhatt.
Their Aadhaar addresses were allegedly altered using AI tools to show addresses in districts including Siddharth Nagar, Badaun, Bareilly, Gorakhpur and other locations. Police alleged he collected students’ Aadhaar details, photographs and signatures and passed them to Lalit. He also allegedly provided OTPs received on students’ registered mobile numbers to facilitate UDID applications. Police also recovered financial transaction records involving Kuldeep, Saxena and doctors. Police alleged he misused his official position to facilitate certificates carrying Siddharth Nagar addresses for monetary consideration.
Joint CP Madhur Verma said, “The investigation began on Aug 31, when we received information about Lalit Kumar alias Aditya, 36, an Aligarh resident living in Faridabad, who was allegedly arranging forged PwD certificates for students in return for substantial payments. He was apprehended near Delhi University’s North Campus with 16 certificates issued by govt hospitals in Badaun, Bareilly and Siddharth Nagar, besides three mobile phones and a laptop. ” Special CP Devesh Chandra Srivastava had formed teams for the investigation.