Four held for making fake passes for inter-district travel

Four persons were arrested on Saturday for allegedly preparing bogus passes and selling them to people who wanted to travel to various districts in Maharashtra during the lockdown, a Mumbai crime branch official said. The genuine passes are issued by the offices of Mumbai police commissioner and district collector.

The accused used to prepare bogus passes and forward them through social media, the official said. The accused Abdul Karim Shaikh alias Aslam (35), Sameer Shaikh (36), Noor Mohammed Shaikh (39) and Vinay Parte (36) were picked up from Sindhudurg and Palghar districts, he said, adding that mobile phones and laptops were seized from them.

While three of them run a travel agency in Mumbai, another owns a computer typing class in Vasai, he said. They have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.

A local court has remanded them in police custody till July 27..