Living declared dead: Fake death certificate racket busted in Telangana

Hyderabad: A racket in which fake death certificates were allegedly churned out using a panchayat official’s digital signature has been busted in Telangana’s Siddipet district.

Cherial Police have booked two people after a preliminary inquiry. They are Bhukya Madhu, secretary of Rampur gram panchayat in Cherial mandal, and Ramesh, who runs an internet centre in Hyderabad.

Dongle handed over for a bribe

The case was registered on a complaint from the Mandal Panchayat Officer. According to the complaint, Madhu allegedly handed over his government-issued e-sign dongle, the digital signature key used to authorise official records, to Ramesh in exchange for a bribe.

Speaking to Siasat.com, Cherial Sub-Inspector G Apoorva Reddy said, “Ramesh used the credentials to log into the government system and generate death certificates.”

A special police team that looked into the matter found that 18 such certificates had been issued, she said.

Living people declared dead

Police suspect the certificates were used to claim insurance money. Policies had allegedly been taken out in the names of family members, who were then shown as dead while they were still alive. 

Cherial Police have gathered details of the alleged fraud and are going through the records. They are also trying to find out whether others were part of the racket.

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