Kashmiri Youth Gets Five Years’ Rigorous Imprisonment in Odisha Forgery Case

SRINAGAR: In a conviction in a high-profile forgery and impersonation case, the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court in Chandikhole on Thursday sentenced a youth from north Kashmir, Sayed Ishaan Bukhari, to five years of rigorous imprisonment. He was found guilty of cheating, forgery, impersonation, and cyber fraud, and was also fined.

The judgment followed a detailed trial involving 18 witnesses and the examination of 130 documentary exhibits, which established Bukhari’s role in a widespread forgery network.

Bukhari was arrested on December 15, 2023, during a coordinated raid by the Special Task Force (STF), assisted by Jajpur police, at Neulpur in Dharmashala, Odisha. The arrest followed surveillance and investigation into his activities across multiple states.

During the raid, officials recovered a large volume of incriminating material, including forged medical degree certificates purportedly issued by institutions such as Cornell University (USA), the Canadian Health Services Institute, and Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. The STF also seized blank signed documents, affidavits, bonds, multiple identity cards, ATM cards, blank cheques, Aadhaar cards, and visiting cards, indicating the scale of the forgery operation.

Bukhari was charge-sheeted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 465, 467, 468, 471 (forgery and use of forged documents), and 120B (criminal conspiracy). He was also booked under Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000, for identity theft and cheating by impersonation using computer resources.

The prosecution termed the conviction a significant step against professional forgery syndicates misusing both digital and physical platforms to manipulate systems and defraud the public. (KNT)