more-in The Thane Police Crime Branch arrested a 54-year-old man on Tuesday for allegedly cheating hundreds of people by offering smart card driving licences, but issuing fake ones instead. According to Thane Crime Branch officers, the accused has been identified as Sunil Chaudhari, a resident of Mulund who has been running a driving institute in Thane for the last 10 years. Officers said that police constable Ravindra Katkar of Thane Crime Branch (Unit I) received a tip-off about the fake license racket being run by Mr. Chaudhari. He alerted other Unit I officers and Mr. Chaudhari was picked up near Ceaser Park Hotel in Thane. An officer with Thane Crime Branch said, “Inquiries have established that Mr. Chaudhari would pose as an agent. He would claim that he could obtain driving licences from the Thane Regional Transport Office for a fee. He would then issue forged licences at ?11,000 each. He made the fake licences at home using a photo editing software and laser printers.” The officer said that they recovered 253 forged smart card licences, 50 blank smart cards, and printing equipment during a raid on his house in Mulund. The officer said, “Mr. Chaudhari has been running the racket for around a year now. He has so far cheated close to 700 people in Thane and nearby areas. We have also recovered rubber stamps from his house. We are investigating how he obtained the blank smart cards and the rubber stamps.” Rubber stamps seized Mr. Chaudhari was arrested and charged with cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code. The officer said, “We also recovered rubber stamps belonging to government departments such as the police and revenue. We are interrogating Mr. Chaudhari to find out if he also ran other rackets using the government stamps.”

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