Citizenship certificates, passports, experience certificates, bank statements, academic transcripts, licenses -- you name it. They can produce almost any forged documents at short notice. However, it is the persons who fall prey to forgers who are at the receiving end. The forgers allegedly ripped off at least five persons with a fake US visa and were arrested while they were about to prey on 15 others.
According to inspector Krishna Koirala, the investigating officer at the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), the racket is found to have been functioning in an organized manner with its members playing various roles.
Raj Kumar Rai, 26, of Ilam, for instance, produced forged documents in his rented room in Bauddha. Having returned from Singapore as a student last year, Rai befriended Rom Malla, 32, Firulal Chaudhary, 45, of Kailali and Manoj Lama, 23, of Dhanusha to run the forgery racket.
Chaudhary claimed to be an activist of Rastriya Prajatanatra Party (RPP) and that he was once the president of Pratappur VDC in Kailali. He was the member of the forgery racket who benefited most as it was him who dealt with potential victims first hand, said the police.
According to investigative officers, an alarming number of forgers have nexus with educational consultancies and manpower agencies. Educational consultancies are found to have used fake bank documents, property valuation papers and academic certificates while most manpower agencies use fake experience letters.
“As of now, we have only dealt with complaints related to forgery but our efforts from now on would be focused on dismantling the rackets,” said chief of MPCD SSP Rana Bahadur Chand.
According to an investigative officer, fake citizenship certificate is the new discovery in the forgery business and mostly found to have been used by persons vying for recruitment in the British and Indian armies.
Then fresh incidents of kidnapping and public offense were reported in connection with forgery cases. Three weeks ago, Gaushala Police had rescued two persons from Tusal while being kidnapped in connection with a fake visa case.
As per the civil code, a person convicted of forgery can be fined up to Rs 9500. Prosecutors lament that lack of harsh punishment has significantly contributed to the rise in such crimes.
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