KATHMANDU, May 16: The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office (KVCIO) has arrested three individuals, including the ringleader of an organized gang involved in forging official documents of government, financial, and educational institutions.
The arrests were made on Wednesday in Futung, Tarakeshwar Municipality-7, Kathmandu. Police seized various forged documents along with equipment used in the forgery operations.
The main mastermind behind the operation has been identified as Anjani Bayalkoti, 46, originally from Masel, Bhimsen Thapa Rural Municipality-1, Gorkha, and currently residing in Devi Chowk, Tarkeshwar-2, Kathmandu.
Along with him, Nirmal Khadka, 28, from Champadevi Rural Municipality-7, Okhaldhunga, and Anju Khatri, 23, from Kailash Rural Municipality-2, Makwanpur, were also taken into custody.
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According to police, Bayalkoti had been operating an illegal office for the past eight years by renting a room in Futung. He reportedly paid a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 to two assistants who helped him design and produce forged documents.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the group was involved in forging a wide range of official documents, including recommendation letters from various government offices and local authorities, educational certificates (such as migration, character, transcript, and provisional certificates), land ownership documents, driver’s licenses, marriage registration certificates, and relationship verification certificates.
The investigation also revealed that the group specifically produced fake marriage registration certificates for ‘dependent visa’ purposes, fake land ownership documents to obtain bank loans, and forged bank statements from cooperative organizations for individuals applying for student visas to Japan. These documents were sent through courier services.
Police have seized a total of 42 migration certificates, 60 character certificates, 110 academic transcripts, 5 marriage registration certificates, 50 provisional certificates, 10 land ownership documents, letterheads from 17 different cooperative organizations, annual income certification letters, hundreds of bank and cooperative account statements, and recommendation letters from various health institutions.
Additionally, the KVCIO reported the seizure of 355 prepared documents and 150 blank stamps, along with various machines and equipment used in the forgery process, including a lamination machine, hitting machine, die-cutting machine, stamp-making machine, two monitors, two CPUs, two keyboards, two mice, three printers, seven mobile phones from different companies, and medical cards from various hospitals. Authorities also found forged signatures from various government bodies, non-governmental organizations, associations, political parties, and individuals.
The three individuals arrested have been sent to the District Police Office, Teku, Kathmandu, for further investigation and necessary legal action.
