The Mangaluru City Police arrested two brokers for allegedly producing fake documents and obtaining Police Clearance Certificates (PCCs) for labourers seeking employment in Bajpe. Two constables have also been suspended in connection with the case.

During a digital verification of records, the Inspector of Bajpe police station found that 31 of the 33 PCC applications had been cleared on June 9 without entries being made in the register and without proper field verification. The Inspector then contacted an applicant, Shivaraj Talwar, who said he had submitted a set of documents to one Mamata and Bharath, who obtained the certificates for him.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy said an investigation revealed that brokers, with the cooperation of the two suspended constables, fraudulently obtained the certificates, and that the labourers involved were poor people looking for work.

The Bajpe police have registered a case under Sections 336(2) (forgery), 336(3) (forgery using a forged document), 340(2) (using a forged document as genuine), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 316(5), and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The police arrested Bharath, a resident of Tenka Yekkar, and Ramcharan Biswas, a resident of Cooch Behar, West Bengal. They were produced before a magistrate, who granted police custody of the accused for further investigation. A search was on for the other accused, the police said.