Telangana Police arrest 4 people in fingerprint altering case

The Telangana Police has arrested four people accused of altering fingerprints through surgeries to go to Kuwait for work purposes. Of the arrested 4 people, two of those were seeking such surgeries whereas two others were doing such surgeries.

People who were seeking these surgeries were those deported from Kuwait after indulging in criminal activities and illegal stay, to gain re-entry into the West Asian country after playing the biometric system.

The police recovered medical kit used for surgeries and other incriminating material. The accused have carried out at least 11 surgeries, charging Rs 25,000 per procedure. Two of them were identified as Gajjalakondugari Naga Muneswar Reddy, a radiologist and X-Ray technician, and Sagabala Venkat Ramana, an anaesthesia technician, who were conducting the surgeries.

The police said the two accused medical professionals would cut the upper layer of fingertips, remove some part of the tissue, and re-stitch it, and in a month or two, the wound gets healed with a slight change in fingerprint pattern.

Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh Bhagwat said, “After the alteration of fingerprints, the clients would update their fingerprints at the Aadhaar centres by changing their addresses. Then they would apply for a visa to go to Kuwait. Once they get the visa, they fly to Kuwait. These new fingerprints last for one year in the same condition.”

The four accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including cheating, forgery, making counterfeit documents, and criminal conspiracy, as well as sections under the Aadhaar Act.