Rampur, Uttar Pradesh: A former primary school teacher in Rampur has been booked for allegedly securing government employment by hiding her foreign nationality and submitting forged documents, a case that came to light nearly 30 years after her appointment. The police on Thursday registered an FIR after an internal inquiry by the Basic Education Department concluded that Mahira Akhtar, also known by the names Farzana and Farzana, had entered service using fabricated identity and residence records.
The complaint was filed at the Azim Nagar police station, following an official communication from the education department. The FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4), 336, 338 and 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deal with cheating, forgery and use of false certificates for unlawful gain. Investigators allege that the accused, despite holding Pakistani citizenship, obtained a teaching post in the Basic Education Department by presenting a fake residence certificate and fraudulent domicile proof, including a forged address in Kumhariya village.
According to Additional Superintendent of Police Anurag Singh, the woman served as a teacher at a primary school in Kumhariya village, where she worked for decades before her service was suspended and later terminated. “It is alleged that despite being a Pakistani national, she secured a job in the education department using a fake residence certificate,” Singh said, confirming that the matter was first identified during a departmental internal inquiry, after which the case was escalated to law enforcement.
Official records cited in the complaint show that the woman married a Pakistani national in 1979, after which she acquired Pakistani citizenship. Following a divorce, she reportedly re-entered India on a Pakistani passport, later marrying a local man in 1985, around the same period she joined government service while identifying herself as an Indian citizen.
Departmental sources say that once her nationality was verified, ITI authorities suspended her from service and later dismissed her permanently, triggering the formal legal complaint. Police confirmed that no arrest has been made so far, and the investigation is ongoing, including verification of immigration history, passport records, employment entry files, and supporting certificates submitted at the time of hiring.
Officials noted that evidence is still being collected and cross-checked with national databases. The case has revived debate in the state over the need for stronger identity verification and document audits in government recruitment, especially for long-running institutional roles such as education.
