Hyderabad: Thirteen persons, including some GHMC health assistants, were arrested for involvement in a racket that issued birth certificates to applicants fraudulently. The Rachakonda police found that the gang, assisted by 14 agents who are absconding, had issued about 2,000 such certificates in last three years.
Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh M. Bhagwat said that the accused consist of private brokers, owners of Mee-Seva Centres, data entry operators with GHMC, sub-registrars and health assistants of GHMC.
“The accused formed a syndicate and skipped several procedures to issue the birth certificates. Health assistants and sub-registrars played a key role in the racket and misused their position to issue the certificates,” he said on Wednesday.
Talking of their modus operandi, the commissioner said the agents contacted the Mee-Seva operators who in turn got in touch with data entry operators at GHMC offices at Chintal and Secunderabad, who in connivance with sub-registrars and GHMC health assistants issued the certificates without following the procedures.
“People who were in need of birth certificates would approach the accused who collected the details, evaded the necessary procedures and issued genuine birth certificates for a charge of about Rs 5,000,” he said.
Parents who have not obtained one at the time of birth of their child can get a valid birth certificate by first applying for a non-availability certificate and then submitting that to the local revenue authorities. After due verification, the local revenue authorities issue a certificate, on the basis of which the GHMC issues parents a birth certificate. “However, the gang had access to the GHMC online networks and misused it,” the commissioner said.
Among those arrested were Adappa Reddy Raju, 40, health assistant GHMC circle 18, Yeduga Ramakrishna, 42, health assistant of circle 18, Chitikela Babu Naidu, 42, health assistant of circle 18 and Reddy Nani Babu, 35, health assistant of circle 15. The police also arrested data entry operators Boram Bhanu Prakash, 27 and Sara Kiran Kumar, 35, apart from four MeeSeva owners and three agents.
