Fake applications for residence certificates in Bihar have moved past the animal kingdom and taken a turn for the divine. After a residence certificate issued in the name of “Dog Babu” — and immediately cancelled — multiple mischievous applications for residence certificates are coming to light.
In the latest such instance in Khagaria district, officials have found applications for residential certificates for Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and a crow.
In one of the online applications, officials in Chautham found a photograph of Lord Ram with the applicant’s name: “Shri Ram”. His father’s name is mentioned as Dashrath, his mother’s as Kaushalya, his village’s name is Ayodhya, but the district is named Khagaria. All the names match the details in Ramayana, just that the Lord’s home appears to have moved from Uttar Pradesh to Bihar.
Another online application in Chautham names the applicant as “Srimati Mata Sita” and carries a photograph of Goddess Sita. Her father’s name is mentioned as Janak, her mother’s as Sunaina, her village’s as Ayodhya and the district, again, is Khagaria. Both Lord Ram and Goddess Sita have 9999999999 as their phone numbers.
The officials have rejected these applications and registered a police case against unidentified persons. According to their complaint, the fake applications were filed to malign the government’s exercise of issuing residence certificates.
Another bizarre case was reported in the Khagaria Sadar office, where an online application was filed in the name of Kauwwa (crow). The father has been named Kawwa Singh and the mother Maina (Myna) Singh. The photograph is of a crow. In this case, too, officials have filed a complaint. This application is said to have been filed in December last year.
Earlier, a residence certificate in the name of Dog Babu had been issued. Officials concerned cancelled this certificate within minutes, attributing the anomaly to “a mischievous element”. The certificate had the photograph of a smiling Golden Retriever.
Investigation revealed that the certificate was linked to documents originally belonging to a woman from Delhi. Her Aadhaar card and other documents had been uploaded to the portal, indicating that someone tampered with her data to generate the fake certificate.
Patna District Magistrate Thiyagarajan had described the matter as “very serious”. “Some mysterious element has made such an attempt. The certificate was issued on July 24 at 3.56 pm and was immediately cancelled within two minutes at 3.58 pm. Whoever is involved in this, whoever has made the recommendation, an FIR is being filed against them, and action is being taken against them,” he had said.
Also, officials in East Champaran had received an online application featuring actor Monalisa’s photograph. The certificate listed the applicant’s name as “Sonalika Tractor”, father’s name as “Swaraj Tractor”, and mother’s name as “Car Devi”.