Jalpaiguri, Feb. 12 -- The Jalpaiguri Sadar Subdivision Officer's (SDO) office has identified seven fake caste certificates in Maynaguri during the ongoing digitisation process. The fraud came to light after several residents uploaded their caste certificates online from internet cafes in Amguri, Maynaguri. Upon verification, the SDO office found discrepancies and immediately lodged a complaint with the police cyber cell against the cafes and individuals involved.

The police have launched an investigation to trace the network responsible for producing fake caste certificates in the district.

As part of the district-wide digitisation initiative, people have been uploading their caste certificates along with other required documents onto the government's online portal. However, several certificates from the Amguri area were flagged as fraudulent. The records at the SDO office confirmed that while the uploaded certificates bore the names of legitimate individuals, the photographs had been altered with fake identities.

Further administrative inquiry has revealed that individuals using these fake certificates have availed multiple government benefits. The investigation suggests that the fraudulent documents were generated from internet cafes in Amguri. Authorities have also uncovered an active network engaged in producing fake caste certificates across the district, allegedly involving multiple internet cafes.

The probe now extends to identifying potential involvement of government employees in the racket. Reports indicate that these certificates were issued in exchange for large sums of money.

The transition to digital records is progressing across the district but a shortage of staff has slowed down the process of verifying uploaded certificates against official records.

The fraud was detected when SDO office employees became suspicious of certain uploaded documents. Jalpaiguri Sadar SDO Tamojit Chakraborty stated: "Several fake caste certificates have been identified in Amguri, Maynaguri. A formal complaint has been filed against

an internet cafe."

District Superintendent of Police Khandbahale Umesh Ganpath added: "The police have launched an investigation based on the complaint and legal action is being taken."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.