This was one of the shocking stories that I read yesterday (thanks EagleSM23). The ease with which corruption bypassed every security control check raised by the Indian state was gobsmacking. This makes a mockery of counter terrorism efforts.
And each and every agent who helped the reporters in breaking the rules are responsible for the potential death of terrorist victims if terrorists use this. Very good work by the media to expose these crooks. I wonder if the punishment for corruption can be increased?
some of the old medieval punishments sound good to me, like blackening their face, putting them face backwards on a donkey, tarring and feathering them, shaving their head, putting them in stocks and inviting passer byes' to pelt them with rotten vegetables, eggs and spit on them. Or perhaps take one of the islamic punishments like this one.
Bribery: This is another source of unlawful money, which Allah has forbidden. Giving a bribe to a judge or a ruler in order to incur injustice is a crime, for it leads to unfairness in ruling by taking away people's rights, and it leads to the spread of corruption. Allah says:"And eat up not one another's property unjustly, nor give bribery to the rulers that you may knowingly eat up a part of the property of others sinfully."Qur'an (2:18)
I am sorry, but corruption is my biggest bug bear, I absolutely hate it with a vengeance. Let the Indian political and religious leaders go after this, that will help the common man more than any amount of nuclear deals or promises for heaven in the hereafter.
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
New Delhi: A terrorist could easily acquire foolproof Indian identity for a few thousand rupees, a CNN-IBN investigation has revealed.
Anand Kumar Gupta invested Rs 35,000 in bribes and in
45 days got a ration card, a PAN card, a voter I-Card, a birth certificate and a passport—documents which prove he is an Indian citizen.
What’s shocking though that Gupta is a fictitious person and was created on a computer. It’s what a sleeper terrorist cell would do. Create a fake identity and live anonymously, waiting to be unleashed.
Undercover CNN-IBN reporters approached Jai Mata Di property dealers in Delhi to rent a house. Brokers Ajay and Sanjay took Rs 4,000 and a landlord Rs 10,000 and got the reporters a house in West Delhi. The rent agreement was in the name of Anand Kumar Gupta.
Tenant verification was made mandatory in Delhi after the attack on Parliament in December 2001, but the property dealers promised us to get police verification without having to meet the police. The only wanted Gupta’s identity proof, which could be easily arranged for by getting a fake driving licence in Meerut.
The property dealers in Delhi guided the reporters to a tout in the Meerut Road Transport Office. For Rs 1,000 and in four hours Gupta got a fake driving licence, his first proof of Indian citizenship.
With a fake driving licence and a rent agreement as residence proof, CNN-IBN reporters next approached MTNL for a landline connection. The phone was granted—a rent agreement document backed by an MTNL bill at the same address buttressed Gupta’s proofs of residence.
Next on the agenda was getting a ration card, is issued by the Food and Supplies Department. Ration shop owner Rajender, one of the hundreds brokers in Delhi, got a ration card for Gupta for just Rs 800.
Gupta now had a driving licence, ration card and two documents to prove his place of residence. He next managed to get an income certificate, which certified he earned Rs 2,500 rupees a month and was this entitled to free medication and education from the government.
Touts Sameer and Bharat charged Rs 1,700 for the income certificate and ensured that the mandatory verification of the application was kipped.
For Rs 17,500 Gupta had got himself a proof of residence in Delhi, a MTNL phone line, a ration card and a government-authenticated income certificate.
A citizen is born
This Citizen X now got ambitious: he wanted a birth certificate. Legally, only the hospital where one is born or the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's office can issue a birth certificate. But Subhash, a seasoned tout from South Delhi, knew otherwise.
CNN-IBN reporters cracked a deal with broker Subhash and got a birth certificate for Rs 3,000. Subhash mentioned a South Delhi address on the form but assures that the birth certificate was genuine. The Rs 3,000 for the certificate included bribes to the police, said Subhash.
Gupta didn’t exist but he was now born and he soon become a taxpayer. Using the fake driving licence and the rent agreement, CNN-IBN reporters picked up a PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department. The PAN card cost Rs 79.
Gupta now had all the documents to proclaim himself an Indian citizen. If only he could get a Delhi driving licence. Enter Uttam, a former employee of Delhi’s Transport Office, who makes a living by arranging driving licences.
For Rs 2,500 Uttam said he would get us a driving licence without the trouble of showing verification documents like birth or education certificates to officials.
“Saboot koi nahi hai aapke paas. Jogar se karvaunga aapka kaam. pehle learning banega aur phir ek mahine baad license miilega. Aap paisa feko tamasha dekho,” he said. (I will first fix a learner’s licence for you and then give you a complete licence after a month. You don’t have to show any proof—just pay and watch the game.)
A CNN-IBN reporter took a written test for the driver’s licence but it was a sham.
Anand Kumar Gupta could live and drive around Delhi fearlessly. He had the rights and privileges of an Indian citizen. Anand Kumar Gupta(a fictitious person and was created on a computer) could have been a terrorist.
Source:
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/indian-citizenship-on-sale-and-its-for-cheap/46601-3.html?xml
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