Authorities have launched an investigation after an unusually high number of delayed birth registrations were detected in a small village of Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, raising fears of a large-scale cyber fraud, officials said on Friday.
The irregularity surfaced during a vigilance drive conducted by the health department following a state government directive to cancel illegal and delayed birth and death registrations. As part of the exercise, records between September and November were scrutinised.
During the review, officials found that the birth and death registration system of Shendursani gram panchayat in Arni taluka showed 27,398 delayed birth registrations within just three months. The figure alarmed authorities, as the village has a population of only about 1,500.
The District Health Officer and District Registrar (Births and Deaths) alerted Yavatmal Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Mandar Patki, who subsequently constituted an inquiry committee and ordered a detailed probe.
The inquiry revealed that 27,397 of the 27,398 birth records and seven death records did not pertain to the gram panchayat area and were deemed suspicious, making it implausible for such registrations to have been carried out at the village level. The matter was then referred to the Deputy Director of Health Services, Pune, for a technical investigation.
A state-level login analysis found that the Civil Registration System (CRS) ID of Shendursani gram panchayat had been mapped to Mumbai. The case was further forwarded to the Additional Registrar General of India and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Delhi, for scrutiny.
According to a technical investigation report received on December 11, the registrations fall under the possibility of cyber fraud. A case has been registered at the City police station in Yavatmal.
Meanwhile, the District Health Officer and District Registrar (Births and Deaths) have urged all registrars in the district not to share their CRS IDs, passwords or OTPs with anyone and to immediately report any suspicious activity.
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