LUCKNOW, Aug. 22 -- The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday busted an interstate racket involved in making fake Aadhaar cards and other Indian identity documents for Rohingyas, Bangladeshi nationals, Nepalis, and other foreigners living illegally in India. The alleged kingpin and seven other members of the gang have been arrested following a series of coordinated raids across multiple states, said the ATS. Those arrested are the gang's kingpin Mohammad Naseem and Mohammad Shakib of Azamgarh, Himanshu Rai and Mrityunjay Gupta of Mau, Salman Ansari of Ghaziabad, Gaurav Kumar Gautam of Auraiya, Rajeev Tiwari of Gorakhpur and Vishal Kumar of Azamgarh. "The ATS recovered high-tech electronic devices used for forging documents, fingerprint scanners and laptops, multiple mobile phones used for VPN operations, large number of forged Aadhaar cards, birth certificates and supporting Indian documents," read an ATS press note. According to the ATS, the gang was using both electronic and manual methods to manipulate Aadhaar data. Several Jan Seva Kendras registered for Aadhaar enrolment were allegedly misused to illegally generate or modify Aadhaar cards. Investigators revealed that operators used VPN networks and remote access systems to bypass security checks and make fraudulent changes in official records. The ATS said the forged Aadhaar cards were later used by illegal immigrants to obtain passports, residential proofs and access to government welfare schemes. In many cases, birth certificates, residence proofs and affidavits were fabricated as supporting documents. "The beneficiaries of these fake Aadhaar cards include infiltrators, Rohingya refugees, Bangladeshi citizens and others without valid Indian documents. They paid hefty sums to middlemen and racketeers for these services," an ATS officer said. Based on months of intelligence inputs , the UP ATS registered an FIR in this connection on August 20. Subsequently, search and raid operations were carried out in Azamgarh, Gorakhpur, Mau, Saharanpur, Auraiya (Uttar Pradesh), Murshidabad and Kolkata (West Bengal), Lakhisarai and Katihar (Bihar), and Delhi-NCR. During the operation, ATS teams seized forged Indian documents and Aadhaar cards, along with the devices used for forgery in large numbers. The ATS has sought police custody remand of the accused to interrogate them further and trace more operatives linked to the racket. Officials believe that several more people, including document forgers, data operators, and middlemen, are part of the wider network. "The operation is still going on. Teams are conducting searches in multiple districts and states to trace the remaining accused. This is a major step in preventing illegal immigrants from misusing forged Indian identities," said an ATS official....