Dhubri, Sept. 29: The discovery of a Bengal link in a kisan credit card scam and a document forgery racket unearthed by Dhubri police has added a new twist to the investigation that started after the arrest of the kingpin, Azizur Rahman, on Thursday.
A police source in Gauripur said a number of documents had been recovered which suggested that Rahman had spread his racket to north Bengal apart from actively operating in Barpeta, Goalpara and Nagaon districts. Among the large stack of fake documents and stamps recovered from the racketeer were two residential certificate forms of Balabhut and Salbari panchayats in Cooch Behar district of Bengal, the source added. The source said besides issuing fake certificates and possessing forged seals and stamps of almost all Assam government departments, Rahman was also involved in issuing fake notary certificates, as one notary stamp was also recovered from his possession.
Apart from facilitating kisan credit cards and other loans under various government schemes, he was also involved in issuing fake documents as citizenship proof for quite a long time, the source added.
The source said Rahman also possessed fake stamps of various state and central departments like sales tax, ASEB, fishery and excise, among others.
The police are currently on the lookout for his accomplice, Rofiqul Islam of Dumordoh, who reportedly absconded after Rahman was arrested.
Dhubri police are scrutinising the recovered documents, seals and stamps and documenting them separately for further investigation, particularly the scam involving kisan credit cards and the Bengal panchayat angle, the source said.
Rahman, who was arrested from Dumordoh village on September 27, was remanded in two days' police custody yesterday and is being interrogated at Gauripur police station.
Dhubri additional superintendent of police Prasanta Dutta said the police had taken the case very seriously.
"As of now, Rahman has confessed to having been involved in fraudulent activities to get beneficiaries kisan credit cards and other loans under various government schemes. We are also trying to ascertain how wide his network was and how it operated," Dutta said.
