The Mumbai Crime Branch Unit apprehended two individuals outside the Mumbai airport for possessing counterfeit stamp papers exceeding Rs 62.5 lakh. The arrested suspects, Rohit Jadhav (37) from Badlapur and Narendra Ahire (46) from Kopar Khairane, were found carrying fake stamp papers meant for delivery to another person. The seized 251 counterfeit non-judicial stamp papers, valued at Rs 25,000 each, totaled approximately Rs 62,50,500 and were intended for various non-judicial purposes.
Police investigations revealed that the accused used these fake stamp papers to create affidavits for loan applicants and then tricked them into traveling to Delhi for loan processing. During the journey, the suspects allegedly made the bag containing the documents disappear and later claimed it was stolen, halting the loan process. Rohit Jadhav, originally from Ambernath, and Narendra Ahire from Kopar Khairane, are suspected to be part of a larger fake stamp paper operation, with Ahire believed to be the mastermind.
Narendra Ahire allegedly supplied the fake stamp papers to Rohit Jadhav for further distribution. The accused were presented before the Esplanade Court and remanded to seven days of police custody. The Mumbai Crime Branch continues its probe to track the origin of the counterfeit stamp papers, identify the intended recipients, and unveil any potential broader network involved in the illicit activity. In a separate incident in February, Mumbai Police arrested two individuals from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi for a postal stamp forgery scheme, recovering fake stamps worth nearly Rs 28 lakh.
