The West Bengal government has started verifying birth and death certificates following allegations that they were issued indiscriminately during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll when the Trinamool Congress was in power.

“We have received many complaints after the election. During the SIR, many errors and irregularities were detected. The police have also received many complaints. Fake birth certificates have been found in many places. Many people have taken advantage of the situation. Although there were rules, there have been many irregularities,” Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal said on Thursday.

“If anyone has knowingly and deliberately committed fraud, they won’t be spared,” said Agarwal, who was the state’s chief electoral officer during the SIR. “This verification of birth certificates is only a routine procedure. This step has been taken to eliminate corruption. Government officials will carry out the verification. No contractual employee will do the verification.”

The chief secretary said that many people were facing inconvenience now because of a few others’ mistakes.

Officials said verification drives would be launched across districts to investigate fake birth and death certificates. The process of verifying registers is underway in Birbhum, Purulia, and Jhargram districts. The police are also conducting searches, they added.

Human trafficking ring exposed

Last year, nine people, including contractual post office employees and a former police officer, were arrested in border districts for allegedly helping people obtain Indian passports using forged documents, especially fake birth certificates. These passports were used to travel to France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada.

“The investigation has revealed that the accused were operating an international human trafficking ring. They were recruiting illegal immigrants and facilitating their travel to European countries by providing them with fraudulently obtained Indian passports,” the police submitted in a court in the case.

One of the arrested accused, Gautam Sardar, a casual worker at the Pathankhali gram panchayat office in South 24 Parganas district, had allegedly issued more than 3,500 fake birth certificates over the last couple of years.