Kumbh Mela authority to warn contractors about fake work orders

The Nashik Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority will launch an awareness drive to alert contractors about fake work orders. The move follows the detection of eight bogus work orders, with two cases in April and six more this week.

NTKMA commissioner Sekhar Singh said genuine work orders have a QR code linking to the official website for verification. Police said six gang members have been arrested and booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The accused allegedly prepared fake documents at a computer centre in Jalgaon and sold six orders to three contractors for over Rs 3 crore.

Deputy commissioner Kirankumar Chavan said the gang affixed a purported digital signature of NTKMA chairman Praveen Gedam. Among those arrested is Tanay Mahajan, a distant relative of Kumbh Mela minister Girish Mahajan, who said he had not met the accused for a long time. Police said no government official was involved in the fraud.