Allegations of a widening fake documents scam in Rasipuram taluk have put the scrutiny of government records, building approvals and electricity connections under focus, with several complaints reportedly resulting in cases but limited further police action.
According to a report by Dinamalar, forged government-related documents have been used in Rasipuram taluk in Namakkal district, including a fake legal-heir certificate, a fabricated house-tax receipt and documents connected to building approval and completion certification.
In one case, a computer centre operating in the Mettala area near Namagiripettai allegedly prepared a fake legal-heir certificate that was submitted to a bank. The document was identified as forged during scrutiny. Following a complaint by the tahsildar, Ayilpatti police registered a case against the computer-centre owner and sealed the premises, the report said. However, the owner was not arrested, according to the report.
A separate case involved a house-tax receipt allegedly created in the name of Namagiripettai Town Panchayat. The receipt was reportedly used to convert a temporary electricity connection into a domestic connection. Based on a complaint from the town panchayat executive officer, police registered a case against the person who allegedly used the forged receipt. Dinamalar reported that no arrest had been made in that case either.
The report also said that forged building approval and building-completion certificates were allegedly prepared in the name of Rasipuram Municipality. The documents were reportedly used to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed commercial complex. The 10 Rupees Movement, an organisation mentioned in the report, submitted a complaint at the Rasipuram police station seeking an investigation into the matter. The report said no action had been taken on that complaint so far.
The cases highlight how documents issued or recognised by local bodies can affect access to essential services and the legal status of buildings. House-tax receipts, building approvals and completion certificates are part of the administrative records used by electricity distribution authorities and other institutions when processing applications. Any forged document entering that chain can create problems for public agencies, property owners and residents who rely on the records.
Information-rights activist Senthil Murugan, quoted by Dinamalar, alleged that such document fraud is not limited to Rasipuram taluk and occurs across Tamil Nadu. He said that authorities often register a case against one person after detecting a forged document but do not continue investigating those who may have prepared the documents or acted as intermediaries.
Murugan called for action against the alleged document makers and intermediaries, as well as a comprehensive review of government documents across Tamil Nadu. His comments were presented as an activist’s assessment in the report and were not accompanied by statewide official data in the supplied material.
The reported cases involve different administrative records and separate local authorities, including a tahsildar’s office, a town panchayat and a municipality. The immediate official next steps are the police investigations into the registered cases and any response to the complaint concerning the alleged forged municipal building documents.
