MUMBAI: BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has alleged the exposure of a massive, organised birth certificate racket operating out of Shendursani village in Yavatmal district. The village, whose population is barely around 1,400–1,500, recorded an astonishing 27,397 birth registrations within just three months September, October and November 2025 a figure that has triggered alarm across multiple layers of government.
Somaiya, who visited Shendursani village, Arni tehsil offices and the local police station, described the episode as “the biggest birth certificate scam in India”, claiming it was an interstate operation with possible international ramifications. According to him, the fraud was executed by misusing the Gram Panchayat computer terminal, OTP-based logins and email credentials, pointing to a sophisticated cyber-enabled racket rather than clerical error.
27,397 birth certificates registered/issued in last 100 days in village Sendur Senior, population of 1394 (census of 2011)
Suspect thousands #Bangladeshi are Beneficiaries
Requested SIT investigation pic.twitter.com/taEQC6xphc
— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) December 18, 2025
Raising serious concerns, Somaiya claimed that a large number of beneficiaries do not belong to Maharashtra at all. He alleged that many names traced during preliminary scrutiny are linked to West Bengal, North India and Bangladesh, citing examples such as Kitaboon Nissa, Mohammed Azad, Shamshad Ahmad and Khurshid Alam.
Visited Sendur Sani Village at Yavatmal
27397 birth registration done in September, October, November 2025 through Gram Panchayat Terminal. Th
ALL belongs to West Bengal, North India, Bangladeshi e.g.
Kitaboon Nissa
Mohammed Azad
Shamshad Ahmad
Khurshid AlamIt's interstate… pic.twitter.com/6eNA2dt2jy
— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) December 17, 2025
Even more disturbing, Somaiya alleged that most of the 27,397 registrations were issued to individuals above 18 years of age, a clear violation of norms governing delayed birth registration. “These are not newborns. These are adults being artificially ‘born’ on paper,” he said, warning that such documents could be used to fabricate identity, access welfare schemes, and even establish citizenship.
The fraud surfaced during a government-mandated verification drive aimed at identifying illegal delayed birth and death registrations across Maharashtra. During this routine exercise, officials in Arni taluka noticed that Shendursani Gram Panchayat had logged 27,397 birth entries and seven death entries in the Civil Registration System (CRS) within a span of 100 days numbers completely disconnected from demographic reality.
According to the 2011 Census, Shendursani’s population stood at 1,394, making the figures mathematically impossible. The findings were immediately escalated to the district health officer (DHO), who filed a formal complaint at Yavatmal city police station.
The inquiry took a more ominous turn when technical checks revealed that the CRS ID of Shendursani Gram Panchayat (MH18241RE) was mapped to Mumbai, not Yavatmal. This discovery strongly suggested remote access and possible hacking of the registration system.
Zilla Parishad CEO Mandar Patki constituted an inquiry committee headed by the deputy chief executive officer of the panchayat department. The committee conducted an on-site inspection at Shendursani and concluded that the birth and death entries did not fall under the gram panchayat’s jurisdiction and were “highly suspicious.”
A deeper technical investigation was initiated through the deputy director of health services, Pune. Using state login audits and access logs, authorities confirmed abnormal system usage. The matter was subsequently referred to the Office of the Additional Registrar General of India in New Delhi and the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Their assessment, communicated on December 11, pointed to a strong likelihood of cyber fraud, reinforcing fears that government digital infrastructure was deliberately compromised.
Based on these findings, an FIR has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. Yavatmal city police inspector Nandkishor Kale confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the irregularities and that technical and human involvement is being probed.
Somaiya has demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe, warning that the implications go far beyond one village. “This is not negligence. This is organised crime using government systems. If even birth certificates can be manufactured at this scale, the threat to national security, electoral integrity and public trust is enormous,” he said.
