Uber rape: Man from whom fake certificate procured identified

A man, from whom a fake character certificate was originally procured, using which the Uber rape case accused got an All India Tourist Permit, has been identified by the police and summoned for questioning.

Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, the cab driver accused of raping a passenger last week, had told police that he had procured the fake character certificate issued in the name of an Additional DCP of Delhi Police through an agent of a finance company. The police had detained the agent, identified as Sumit Sharma, who told the police that he had procured it from another person.

"That person has been identified and summoned for questioning. We will make arrests only when we unearth the entire chain through which the fake certificate was obtained," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma said.

The fake certificate was made by scanning some old certificate and then getting it photocopied by keeping paper pieces in selected spots, the police said.

The investigation so far, has revealed that Yadav had bought the car, in which the crime took place, after taking a loan from a Lajpat Nagar-based finance company. The company provided a car loan on the basis that he had an All India Tourist Permit so that he can pay back the loan by plying his car.

The police would also look into whether there was any connivance of any Regional Transport Office officials in this connection as well. Verma said they have asked the Transport Department for the file Yadav had submitted to them for obtaining the permit.

Once the case was cracked, Delhi Police would launch a major drive against touts and agents helping people to procure documents through unfair means.

"The Burari RTO is under the scanner and the police will soon go for a major crackdown on agents and touts active in the area who help people with such forged documents,"  Verma had said.

"We have also asked the Burari RTO how such a forged document was accepted by them and the permit issued," he said. Yadav told the police that he had got the forged document for a few hundred rupees, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Mandeep Randhawa, who was tasked by Delhi Police Commissioner to check the authenticity of the document, had concluded it as fake.

In fact, the official whose signature appeared on the forged character certificate was surprised to see when an image of the document was flashed on TV. He was posted in

Mizoram around a year before the date mentioned on the forged document.