Gang gets bail for jailbirds with fake sureties; held

(EDS: rpt after removing word from headline) Karimnagar (Telangana) Aug 14 (PTI): An eight-member gang has been arrested on the charge of creating fake house ownership certificates and property tax receipts to get criminals out on bail in exchange for money, a top police official said on Friday.

(EDS: rpt after removing word from headline) Karimnagar (Telangana) Aug 14 (PTI): An eight-member gang has been arrested on the charge of creating fake house ownership certificates and property tax receipts to get criminals out on bail in exchange for money, a top police official said on Friday. The fraud came to light when an accused came out on bail using the fake certificates and tax receipts required by courts as sureties for release from jail, Ramagundam Police Commissioner V Satyanarayana told a press conference.

Nimmati Mahender, a clerk working for an advocate, was mediating with the accused and getting him freed from jail, the official said. The gang has been involved in making money for creating the fake certificates for 15 years and used them in about 200 cases of various offences, he said.

The racket was exposed after verification of the address and sureties of the accused who had been released on bail and absconding for years together, the Commissioner said. "We are also probing into the role of advocates in this crime," he said, adding that bogus certificates and rubber stamps were seized from the gang which has been remanded in judicial custody.