Rajasthan Police have busted an illegal Aadhaar enrolment racket, arresting a man for generating fake Aadhaar cards using manipulated biometric data, raising concerns about potential misuse for fraudulent activities.
A man has been arrested for his alleged involvement in an illegal Aadhaar enrolment racket in Hanumangarh district, officials said on Friday.
A joint operation was conducted by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and local police near a municipal area in Bhadra town following specific intelligence inputs.
According to police, Kuldeep Sharma was operating an unauthorised Aadhaar centre using the login credentials of other operators and generating fake Aadhaar cards through manipulated biometric data.
Additional Director General of Police (ATS) Dinesh M N said the operation was conducted under a special campaign against cybercrime and internal security threats.
"Dummy fingerprints made of rubber and copies of retina images were being used to bypass biometric authentication systems," he said, adding that fake signatures were also being used on enrolment receipts.
Officials said such forged Aadhaar cards could be misused for activities such as obtaining fake SIM cards, opening fraudulent bank accounts and potentially aiding anti-national activities.
A team led by ATS officers, under the supervision of IG Rajesh Singh and DIG Yogesh Yadav, carried out the raid in coordination with Hanumangarh police.
During the search, police seized a laptop, printer, iris scanner, fingerprint devices, GPS equipment, camera, and the accused's mobile phone from the spot.
Superintendent of Police Gyan Chand Yadav said a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act, and further investigation is underway.
Police said the accused is being interrogated to identify others involved in the racket and to ascertain whether the operation has links to a larger interstate cybercrime network.