Lucknow, Sept. 22 -- The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has unearthed a sophisticated racket involving forged FASTags and fake vehicle registration numbers allegedly used to evade toll monitoring and online traffic challans, causing revenue losses worth crores of rupees. A key accused, identified as Manish (28) of Sitapur district, was arrested in Lucknow as part of the ongoing probe. The arrest was made during the investigation of a case registered at Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Manish was apprehended near Engineering College Chauraha in the Madiaon area on September 20, STF officials said. According to investigators, the racket involved heavy vehicles engaged in transporting overloaded mineral material, including morang, on national highways across Uttar Pradesh. To escape enforcement action, the operators allegedly used forged FASTags linked to fake registration numbers, ensuring that any online challan generated during transit was issued against a non-existent vehicle rather than the actual offender. STF officials said the investigation revealed that a vehicle bearing registration number UP32 ZN 8925, owned by Riyaz and allegedly operated along with his brother Siraj, was being run using a forged FASTag mapped to the fake registration number MA34 S 9455. Additional SP, STF, Satyasen said that Siraj allegedly procured the forged FASTag through a bank FASTag agent near Khairabad toll plaza in Sitapur. To secure the tag, he allegedly submitted a driving licence, mobile number and a forged registration certificate showing the fictitious vehicle number. Investigators found that the fake FASTag was not affixed permanently to the vehicle. Instead, it was allegedly carried separately by the driver and displayed manually while crossing toll plazas....