Mumbai Cracks Down on Fake Birth Certificate Racket; 119 Cancelled, FIRs to Be Filed Against 116

Mumbai: In a major crackdown on an alleged fake birth certificate racket, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has withdrawn 119 birth certificates that were suspected to have been fraudulently issued in the city. Authorities have also directed officials to register FIRs against 116 individuals linked to the remaining cases.

The development was announced by Ritu Tawde, Mayor of Mumbai, after a high-level review meeting held at the BMC headquarters with senior civic officials. The meeting was convened nearly a month after concerns were raised regarding birth certificates allegedly issued illegally to Bangladeshi nationals.

According to the mayor, the civic administration examined 237 suspicious cases during the review. Out of these, 119 certificates have already been removed from the municipal records and recovered from the families to whom they had been issued.

However, authorities faced resistance in several cases. Officials said 29 individuals refused to return their certificates despite repeated requests, prompting instructions to file criminal complaints against them. In addition, 87 individuals could not be traced, and FIRs will also be filed in those cases. In total, 116 people may face legal action as part of the investigation.

The meeting was also attended by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who has been actively raising the issue and demanding strict action against those responsible for the alleged irregularities.

Mayor Tawde further stated that the civic administration is examining ways to remove individuals from official records if their documents are proven to be fraudulent. She also said there has been a demand to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a deeper probe into the matter.

During the review meeting, officials also presented data regarding birth certificate corrections made during 2025. According to civic records, 19,859 applications for corrections or modifications were received by the Medical Officer of Health during the year.

Authorities noted that the highest number of such applications came from the M-East (Mankhurd–Govandi), E (Byculla), and L (Kurla) wards, which has raised suspicion among officials. The mayor said a detailed verification of all 19,859 certificates has been ordered, and the administration has sought three months to complete the process.

Speaking on the matter, Somaiya highlighted that 2,698 correction applications were submitted in the Kurla ward alone, which is unusually high compared to several other wards that recorded fewer than 1,000 such requests. Similarly, 2,207 applications were submitted in the Byculla ward last year.

Meanwhile, police have also taken action in a related development. Officials from Powai Police recently arrested five Bangladeshi women and detained a seven-year-old girl from Pune for allegedly living in India illegally after crossing the border through West Bengal.

Authorities stated that the arrests were made after investigators traced links during earlier operations in which members of a family were detained from Powai and Navi Mumbai earlier this year.

Officials say the investigation into the alleged birth certificate scam is ongoing, and further scrutiny of documents and civic records is expected to reveal whether additional fraudulent cases exist across the city.