In a bid to curb illegal immigration, the Maharashtra government has established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the issuance of birth and death certificates based on delayed applications, an official from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said on Saturday.
The SIT, led by Inspector General Datta Karale, will scrutinise applications filed at least a year after the birth or death of an individual. This move comes amid growing concerns over the infiltration of Bangladeshi immigrants into Maharashtra.
The urgency for such an investigation intensified after the arrest of Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi national, in connection with a knife attack on actor Saif Ali Khan in Mumbai.
Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule confirmed the probe, stating that it will cover both previously issued certificates and pending applications. The investigation follows allegations of a widespread birth certificate scam raised by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
Somaiya claimed that 269 delayed birth registration orders were issued by the magistrate court in Akola City between January 2021 and December 2023, but the tehsildar approved 4,849 delayed birth registrations. He further alleged that 11,864 delayed applications were filed in Yavatmal, 15,845 in Akola, and 4,350 in Nagpur districts during the same period.
According to Somaiya, nearly two lakh Bangladeshi Rohingyas have applied for birth certificates in Maharashtra. He also highlighted the suspension of a tehsildar in Malegaon linked to these irregularities.
The SIT’s findings are expected to shed light on the scale of the issue and determine whether these delayed registrations are being exploited to aid illegal immigrants in obtaining official documentation.
