A bizarre attempt to acquire a government document in the name of a canine has led to police action in Nawada, Bihar, sparking renewed debate over the authenticity of official paperwork in the state.
Authorities in Nawada were alerted after an online application for a residential certificate was submitted at the Sirdala RTPS office featuring the name "Dogesh Babu" and a photo of a dog, according to a TOI report. The applicant’s details listed the father as "Dogesh's Papa" and the mother as "Dogesh's Mami," hailing from Kharondh village in ward number 11.
Concerned by the manipulation of the administrative process, District Magistrate (DM) Ravi Prakash ordered an immediate investigation and instructed the police to take action. TOI quoted the DM as stating, “Such tampering with administrative processes is not acceptable under any circumstances. Action will be taken against the culprits.”
In a sarcastic social media post, the DM later wrote, "Copycats... or rather copycats, were caught trying to apply for a residence certificate from Sirdala, Rajauli. FIR is being registered for cheap and cheap humour-satire."
The Sirdala Zone Officer, Abhinav Raj, subsequently registered a First Information Report (FIR) encompassing several legal provisions, including Section 319(2) for fraud, Sections 340(1) and 340(2) regarding fraudulent use of electronic records, as well as legislation addressing misuse of government systems and forgery. According to TOI, the case is also being treated as a violation of Section 66D of the Information Technology Act 2000, which is concerned with impersonation and fraud committed using digital resources.
This latest stunt echoes an incident in Patna earlier in the week, when a residential certificate was not only applied for but actually issued to a dog, an incident that spread rapidly across Bihar’s social media users. A Golden Retriever named Dog Babu, grinning in his viral photo, had managed to secure an official residence certificate during the state’s voter verification drive.
The document, complete with absurd parental details (father: Kutta Babu, mother: Kutiya Devi) and a digital signature from revenue officer Murari Chauhan, was swiftly cancelled as officials blamed "mischievous elements".
Issued via Bihar’s Right to Public Service portal, the fake certificate listed Dog Babu’s address in Masaurhi but investigations revealed a darker layer: forged documents, including a Delhi woman’s hijacked Aadhaar details, were used to manipulate the system. Patna DM Shirsat Kapil Ashok Thiyagarajan personally inspected the block office, confirming the document was forged.
The DM clarified that the issuance in Patna had stemmed from forged paperwork and labelled it a deliberate plot to discredit the state government and district authorities, stating that it was not a mere clerical error.
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