Mumbai: Police Bust Forged Ration Card And MMRDA Letter Scam In Dindoshi; Accused Held From Malad

Police busted a fake government document racket run by a 21-year-old man in Dindoshi. The 21-year-old man carried forward his late father’s illegal trade business. Police arrested Sujal Dayal after they recovered hundreds of forged ration cards, fake MMRDA housing allotment letters, and bogus government survey receipts that were related to collector land from his possession, reported Mid Day. The Dindoshi police and the Anti-Terrorism Cell (ATC) team got a tip about Sujal Dayal’s involvement in the manufacturing and sale of fake government documents.

The police and ATC arrested him in Malad East over the weekend, reported Mid Day. A personal search operation resulted in the recovery of three fake ration cards, two forged MMRDA allotment letters, and a blank survey receipt used for hutment regularisation, the report added. After getting the Tip, immediate action was taken by the authorities. Additional Commissioner Shashikumar Meena and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mahesh Chimate led a team formed for this operation, and were supervised by Senior Inspector Mahendra Shinde and Inspector Sanjay Pawar, the report added. Assistant Inspector Shiv Bhosle, Sub-inspector Nitin Savne, Assistant Sub-inspector Mubarak Mulani, Head Constables Sachin Kamble and Pradeep More, and Constables Navnath Shinde, Gyaneshwar Kale, Shailendra Bhandar, and Suhan Koli were working on this operation. Sujal was arrested at Ranisati Marg in Malad East over the weekend.

After police recovered fake ration cards, MMRDA allotment letters, and a blank survey receipt, the special team then raided Sujal’s home in Virar West. At the raid at his house, several fake government documents were seized. After Sujal was arrested over the weekend, he was produced before a court for remand, the report added.

In a police interrogation, he revealed that his father Shivaji Dayal was running the same illegal business for many years. He watched his father forge documents for customers from a young age. After his father’s death, he had no financial support and his mother was suffering from prolonged illness. Hence, he decided to run the racket to survive.

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A special team raided Sujal’s home - Agarwal Paradise - in Virar West. There, the team found a room converted into a fake document manufacturing unit that was equipped with a computer, printing machine, official stamps, and old government data. Police seized 443 forged ration cards from his residence. Sujal’s father earlier lived in the Malwani-Mahakali area before shifting to Virar, and he worked as an agent associated with the rationing office in Goregaon, police sources told Mid Day. The sources also added that he was considered a ‘master’ in preparing fake ration cards. Most of the cards that were seized by the authorities bear the addresses of the Malwani area; others had addresses of Vasai, Nalasopara, and Palghar, the report added. Police also stated that on old cards, the handwriting was of Sujal’s father, while on new cards, Sujal filled in the details.

Sujal disclosed that he used to dip plain sheets of paper in brewed tea to give them a brown tint resembling genuine ration card pages. After drying them, he trimmed the sheets to the required size, affixed official-looking stamps, and carefully wrote the names of cardholders and their family members in Marathi to make the documents appear authentic.
These fake ration cards were then used to unlawfully obtain benefits under various government schemes. The forged documents helped secure income certificates, access medical benefits meant for yellow and orange card holders, obtain electricity meter connections, and even prepare bail-related paperwork for accused individuals. Police further recovered forged MMRDA Project-Affected Persons (PAP) housing allotment letters linked to road widening, road cutting, and relocation projects. They also seized a blank survey receipt that was allegedly used to falsely establish the legality of hutments constructed on government land.

Police are examining the names and addresses listed on the confiscated ration cards to determine their authenticity and to find out whether any foreign nationals, especially Bangladeshi or Pakistani citizens, used these forged documents to acquire Indian identity papers and reside in the country illegally.

During interrogation, Sujal disclosed the names of several middlemen. Acting on this information, police apprehended another आरोपी from Chembur — 43-year-old Rakesh Bhagat Singh — who was employed as a peon at a rationing office in the area. His responsibilities included maintaining cleanliness in the office and disposing of cancelled ration cards.

Investigators suspect the case is part of a well-structured and long-standing racket involving multiple government departments. Authorities plan to write to the departments concerned to collect further details, and strict action will be initiated against any government official found complicit. “More arrests are likely in the coming days,” said Senior Police Inspector Mahendra Shinde of Dindoshi police station.