LUCKNOW, Nov. 1 -- The UP Special Task Force (STF) on Friday cracked down on another inter-state fake birth and death certificate racket and arrested five people, including a Village Panchayat Officer of Hardoi, senior police officials confirmed in a press note shared with the media. They said the gang has reportedly created over 140,000 fake birth certificates and 2,500 fake death certificates. Notably, a similar inter-state racket preparing fake birth and death certificates was unearthed last year in Salon, Raebareli, in which over 20 people were arrested, including a local Village Panchayat Officer, Vijay Yadav. Sharing further details of the recent arrests, STF officials informed that the arrested individuals include Lal Bihari Pal, a Gram Panchayat Officer from Hardoi, and four Gonda residents: Ravi Verma, Sonu Verma, Bansraj Verma, and Sathrohan Verma. They said the STF seized five mobile phones, 14 Ayushman cards, seven ATM cards, 25 fake birth certificates, five fake death certificates, and Rs 27,690 in cash, one hard disk, and one car from them. They stated that the gang, which operated across multiple states, developed fake websites and software to create counterfeit birth and death certificates. They said the gang charged a hefty fee for their services, generating substantial illicit income. They said the gang's leader, Ravi Verma, would provide log-in IDs and passwords to his associates, who would then create the fake certificates using artificial intelligence and YouTube tutorials. The officials said the STF is now working to identify other members of the gang and unravel the entire network. HTC...