Siliguri: The fake birth and death certificate racket linked to Kharibari Rural Hospital continues to widen, with police arresting six more individuals, including a woman, on Tuesday and Wednesday. With these arrests, the total number of people held in connection with the case has risen to 10.
According to police sources, the woman arrested has been identified as Nilima Roy, a resident of Hakimpara in Siliguri. Her name surfaced during the interrogation of previously arrested accused, including the prime suspect Partha Saha and three others. Acting on the lead, Kharibari police detained Nilima and, after sustained interrogation, formally arrested her on Tuesday night. She was produced before the Siliguri court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in a separate but related operation, the Detective Department of Siliguri Metropolitan Police arrested five more people on Wednesday morning. Acting on information obtained from earlier interrogations, a special team raided different locations in Pradhan Nagar and Chandmoni areas.
During the raid, police first nabbed Radheshyam Prasad and Deepak Kumar Saha near the Chandmoni temple area while they were moving around on a scooter. Upon searching them, officers recovered five fake birth certificates and a mobile phone containing several forged documents. Interrogation of the duo led to the identification of three more accused — Mahesh Saha, Sujit Rongdar, and Rajiv Chettri. All three were later arrested from the Pradhan Nagar area, where police also seized six more counterfeit birth certificates and other forged documents.
Investigators believe the group has been running a large-scale operation, forging official birth and death certificates and selling them across different parts of the state for money.