In Bihar’s Samastipur district, an application was submitted through the government’s RTPS (Right to Public Services) portal seeking a residential certificate in the name of “Donald John Trump.”
The application, dated July 29, listed the applicant’s father as “Frederick Christ Trump,” with the residence address mentioned as Hasanpur, Ward 13, Bakarpur Post, Mohiuddin Nagar Block, Samastipur.
The supporting documents included a photograph of US President Trump and a forged Aadhaar card, which immediately raised suspicion upon review, officials said.
Upon closer inspection, the Revenue Officer of Mohiuddin Nagar discovered several irregularities, including tampered photo IDs, barcode distortions, and altered personal details, prompting her to reject the application outright on August 4.
The bizarre incident surfaced as the latest in a string of dubious requests. Since the beginning of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, there has been a noticeable surge in applications for residential certificates. However, these certificates — a mandatory document required by the Election Commission for voter card verification — have also been attracting illegal applications, officials said.
The Samastipur district administration labelled the application as part of a more extensive attempt to undermine the integrity of Bihar’s digital governance system and mislead the ongoing electoral roll revision process.
Authorities said the use of fraudulent documents, including a fabricated Aadhaar card, appeared to be a clear case of cyber fraud. Misuse of the RTPS system through fictitious applicants and forged documents has become increasingly frequent, they say, with officials now systematically rejecting such applications and registering formal FIRs.
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An FIR has been lodged at the Samastipur Cyber Police Station under Sections 318(4) and 336(4) of the BNS (pertaining to forgery and use of forged documents), and Sections 66(c) and 66(d) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (related to identity theft and online fraud), for further investigation.
Last month, a similar application was submitted under the name “Dog Babu” at the Masaurhi Circle Office in Patna. The case went viral after it was revealed that a residence certificate application had been filed using an image of a dog. A full-scale investigation led to the arrest of a staff member of the Circle Office for allegedly submitting the fake application and sharing it online.
Other districts have also reported unusual applications in the names of animals and vehicles. Shortly after the Dog Babu case, another application was submitted in Nawada in the name of “Dogesh Babu,” with “Dogesh ke papa” and “Dogesh ki mummy” listed as parents. A probe was ordered in that case as well.
Authorities have urged the public to submit genuine and valid documents when applying for public services and warned that “submitting false information, whether as a joke or with malicious intent, could lead to severe legal consequences, including criminal prosecution.”