MARGAO: South District Registrar Suraj Vernekar has lodged a formal complaint with the Fatorda police after an alarming discovery of bogus residence certificates being used in marriage registrations.
The investigation was triggered when the Sub-Registrar office of Salcete flagged a suspicious document, leading to a scrutiny of all certificates submitted online. Shockingly, it was revealed that several residence certificates attached to marriage applications were forged, and not issued by the Mamlatdar’s office.
Vernekar said they had so far found that six residence certificates submitted to his office shared the same certificate number, REV052384308-64049, despite being issued in different names. Further investigation on the Goa Online portal disclosed that these certificates were issued in 2023. Verneker stated that on going through the documents submitted by Saddamhusen Shahajan Kamate, resident of Fatorda, to register his marriage, it was noticed that his residence certificate had the same outward number as mentioned above.
Saddamhusen had filed an online application to register his marriage through a Common Service Centre operated by Ranjeet Bhosale.
Vernekar emphasised the severity of the offence, categorising it as forgery under the Indian Penal Code, and urged the police to initiate a FIR against those fabricating bogus certificates in the name of the Salcete Mamlatdar.
Upon scrutinising all documents, the Registrar’s office uncovered more instances of fraudulence.
Several residential certificates with identical serial numbers were identified, along with one bearing the signature of a Mamlatdar who had already been transferred. Vernekar revealed that upon questioning, applicants said they paid hefty sums to agents to obtain these residence certificates. Highlighting the importance of authenticity, Vernekar cautioned citizens against falling victim to such scams and urged them to check the authenticity of such documents if they’d rather approach third-party agents than the Mamlatdar’s office directly, for the same.
The case is being investigated by the Fatorda police.
