Thane, Jun 12 (PTI) A former village sarpanch was arrested from Thane district for allegedly preparing fake ration cards and selling them to villagers, police said on Wednesday.

Police recovered several documents, including tax receipts of villagers, rubber stamps of Khandpe village panchayat, and letterheads of the village sarpanch, from the accused, Nilesh Rasal, an official said.

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Police had received a tip-off that Rasal was preparing fake ration cards and selling them to villagers, who used them to avail benefits of government schemes.

Rasal had served as sarpanch of Khandpe village between 2015 and 2020, the official said.

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The ex-sarpanch was arrested after an FIR was registered under charges of forgery and cheating.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)