Sacked Surat ACP arrested for using fake ST certificate

Surat: The city police on Tuesday arrested sacked Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) B. M. Chaudhary, who is accused of securing a government job and later promotions by submitting a fake caste certificate. Chaudhary appeared before the police with anticipatory bail; he was formally arrested and then released on bail.

Umra police has booked the former senior officer for allegedly using a fake Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate to get his police job and a promotion to ACP rank in 2024. The case was filed in May of this year, after Surat district social welfare officer Mukesh Gamit received official confirmation from the Tribal Development Department and Gujarat Vigilance Commission in October 2024 that Chaudhary’s ST certificate, issued in 1990, was fake.

Despite receiving 15 reminders to prove his claim, Chaudhary failed to produce any evidence of belonging to the ST category. His school records listed his caste as ‘Hindu Taili,’ which is not recognised under ST. As a result, he was dismissed from government service just a month before retirement.

The FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Gujarat law regulating the issuance and verification of caste certificates. The investigation was triggered by an initial complaint filed in January 2021 by the president of the Godhara-based Adijati Vikas Trust. DeshGujarat