Gang of four issuing illegal caste certificates busted

New Delhi, June 14

A gang of four involved in allegedly issuing illegal caste certificates to applicants from non-reserved categories was busted by the Delhi Police on Friday.

The Central Range of the Crime Branch in Delhi Police led an operation resulting in the arrest of four persons, including an Executive Magistrate (Tehsildar) from Delhi Cantontment in Department of Revenue, Government of Delhi.

Police said that it received information about the gang from internal sources, however, to verify the information, two decoy applicants from the General Category were sent to obtain OBC certificates.

• Includes Executive Magistrate (Tehsildar) from Delhi Cantontment in Department of Revenue, Government of Delhi
• On May 9, a Delhi Police team had laid a trap in Sangam Vihar and apprehended a key suspect.

Both were successful in acquiring the certificates after paying Rs 3,500 and Rs 3,000 respectively. The fake certificates were even uploaded on the Delhi Government’s Revenue Department website, confirming the involvement of insiders, officials stated. “More than hundreds such illegal certificates have been recovered,” said a police official.

On May 9 a Delhi Police team laid a trap in Sangam Vihar and apprehended Saurabh Gupta, a key suspect. “Upon checking his mobile phone, incriminating evidence such as chats with decoy applicants and documents were found.

Gupta admitted to issuing the certificates through the office of the Executive Magistrate.” the official added. A case was registered under various sections of the IPC .

The accused were identified as Saurabh Gupta of Sangam Vihar, a former vegetable seller and a class X passout; Chetan Yadav of Bagdaula working as an outsourced employee in the Delhi Cantonment office; Waris Ali, a resident of Mandoli Extension, and a former Data Entry Operator; Narender Pal Singh, appointed as Lower Division Clerk in 1991 and promoted to Executive Magistrate in March 2023.

Explaining their modus operandi Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime-II, Rakesh Paweriya said, “Saurabh Gupta used to apply for the certificates on behalf of candidates using fake documents, which were then forwarded by Chetan Yadav to Waris Ali who would approve the certificates using the Executive Magistrate’s digital signature and uploadthem on the government portal.”

The police recovered multiple electronic devices, including laptops, hard drives, and mobile phones, along with more than a hundred fake caste certificates. An investigation is going on to verify the authenticity of 111 caste certificates issued during the period.