India, May 27 -- The Maharashtra government has decided to set up division-wise Special Investigation Teams (SITs) to crack down on the large-scale issuance of illegal licences and permits to autorickshaw and taxi operators, particularly in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), according to officials aware of the developments.

The decision was taken on Monday after preliminary inquiries revealed that thousands of driving licences were issued to auto and taxi operators based on forged documents generated by a "licence mafia" allegedly operating in connivance with government officials.

The SITs for the state's six administrative divisions-Konkan, Pune, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Amravati, and Nagpur-will be headed by the divisiona...