LUCKNOW, Dec. 8 -- A joint team of the East Zone crime/surveillance unit and Ghazipur police arrested two men allegedly running a fake stamp-paper racket from a shop in Keshav Complex, Indira Nagar, officials said here on Sunday. "The accused, identified as Seetanath Rath, 48, and Deepak Singh, 52, were caught after police received a tip-off that forged manual and e-stamp papers were being manufactured and sold from the premises," said ACP Ghazipur Anindya Vikram Singh. He added, "The team raided the ground-floor shop, where Rath was reportedly seen trying to hurriedly hide stamp papers and documents before being detained." During the search, police recovered a large cache of forged documents and equipment, including manual stamp papers, e-stamps, notary rubber stamps, pre-signed notary sheets, and a complete desktop printing setup. The seizure included 112 manual stamp papers,171 e-stamps and 183 pre-signed notary sheets in the names of two notaries; and 12 rubber notary seals. Shortly after Rath's arrest, Singh arrived at the shop and was identified by his partner. Both were taken into custody. The duo allegedly confessed to running the operation together to illegally prepare and sell forged stamp papers and notary documents. "Police have booked them under Sections 319(2), 318(4), 338 and 336(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Officials said Rath also has a criminal history, including cases registered under intimidation and gambling laws," the press note added. Police said further verification of the accused's criminal activities is underway, and more details may emerge as the investigation progresses. htc...