Over 42,000 ‘fake’ birth certificates to Bangladeshis staying illegally in Maharashtra have so far been cancelled by the Maharashtra government. In a special drive, the State government will cancel all the ‘fake’ certificates issued to illegal Bangladeshis till August 15, Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Wednesday. He said that the number of such birth certificates to be cancelled in the coming drive is likely to be much higher than the number of certificates cancelled so far.
“By 15 August, all the fake birth certificates will be cancelled,” he said.
“Many illegal Bangladeshis have so far taken birth certificates in Maharashtra. But now, we have formed a task force to look into it. The Collectors have been given the responsibility at the district level to cancel all the fake certificates. These certificates will be collected till August 15. We have informed them that they should send a copy of these cancelled certificate to the Health Department as well as to the Revenue Department,” Mr Bawankule said. He has already spoken with the Chief Secretary of the State over the issue.
The State government has started working on it as a part of the task force.
As per the data provided by BSF, Maharashtra has so far handed over 110 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The State government has also set up a Special Investigation Team to probe into the issuance of birth and death certificates after a BJP leader had claimed a large-scale scam of fake birth certificates to illegal Bangladeshis.
Kirit Somaiya had alleged that many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingyas were staying in parts of Maharashtra by using fake documents.
Published – July 31, 2025 03:32 am IST
