Fake Aadhaar ID Used to Sell Two Plots in Mumbai, One Arrest

Police are on the lookout for the person who made the fake Aadhaar identity card.

In yet another breach, two plots measuring around 4,000 sq ft located in a prime locality of Mumbai belonging to a former tax commissioner were sold off after making a fake Aadhaar id and a general power of attorney, Times of India reported.

One suspect identified as Azam Panga Abdul Rehman of Aurangabad was arrested and will be kept in police custody till 18 January.

Police are on the lookout for the person who made the fake Aadhaar id and the person who posed as the retired tax commission, TOI reported.

There has been a lot of criticism about the security of Aadhaar detail especially since, a report in The Tribune revealed a racket in a report on how it was able to access the Aadhaar details for over 1 billion people for a measly sum of Rs 500, although both the BJP and UIDAI issued statements claiming that no breach had in fact taken place and that the report was entirely false.

Following the uproar over the report, the UIDAI filed an FIR has now been filed against the daily as well as its reporter. The move was criticized as an “unfair, unjustified and direct attack on the freedom of the press".

Congress President Rahul Gandhi attacked the NDA government over the Aadhaar scheme, dubbing it as a compulsory weapon to "disempower" citizens.

"UPA's Aadhaar = A voluntary instrument to empower citizens.

"NDA's Aadhaar = A compulsory weapon to disempower citizens," he tweeted.

The Congress government, which introduced Aadhaar, is opposing the government's stand that it should be compulsory for receiving the benefits of state-sponsored welfare schemes.

A five-judge Constititution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra on Wednesday, 17 January, began hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the government's flagship Aadhaar programme and its enabling Act of 2016.

Concerns have been voiced about the massive data collection process under Aadhaar, which has information about more than a billion Indians, over fears that these could be used for identity theft and surveillance by the government.

(With inputs from PTI)