Lucknow, Dec 3 (IANS): Three members of an organised gang which gave 436 fake franchises of making birth, death and Covid vaccine certificates, have been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) in Lucknow.

They were arrested from Barabirwa Nahariya Crossing in Lucknow on Saturday.

The gang’s mastermind Sahil was arrested a day earlier from Ghaziabad and the breakthrough came on his revelation.

The accused have been identified as Mohammad Arman of Bahraich, Sahim Ansari of Kushinagar and Mohammad Afzal of Jaunpur district.

The team recovered three laptops, five mobile phones, one Aadhar Card, one PAN card, 15 forged documents and Rs 1.25 lakhs in cash.

Additional SP, STF, Vishal Vikram said that the Force was working on the gang which was involved in making fake birth, death and Covid vaccine certificates while using fake websites and software.

The accused, through these certificates and fake Aadhaar cards, helped others to take benefits of various government schemes in unauthorised manner and avail various insurance claims.

The three miscreants, including the mastermind of the gang, had given 436 franchises across India.

"During interrogation, Mohammad Arman, Sahim Ansari, and Mohammad Afzal, owned up to their crime and said they had taken the franchise of making fraudulent birth, death and Covid vaccine certificates through a fake website and software from Mohammad Sahil, of Ghaziabad.

"They said they knew that franchise giver was a fraudster, and the latter was using a fake website which had a close similarity with the authorised websites to dodge the common public.

"The police are finding out the departments in which these fake certificates on birth, death and Covid Vaccination were used," said the officer.