West Bengal audit finds over 1.61L potentially fake birth certificates
West Bengal just wrapped up a massive check on old birth certificates and found over 1.61 lakh (161,000+) that might be fake.
The drive, the report for which was available up to June 6, 2026, looked at nearly 47,000 documents issued more than a year ago.
Turns out almost one in four weren't genuine.
This has set off a lot of talk about how this could affect voter identity and immigration rules.
Bengal districts record uneven verification rates
Big numbers popped up in places like Kolkata and Murshidabad for older records, while border districts such as Uttar Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas, and Malda led the count for digital ones.
Some districts had way higher verification rates than others.
All this came into focus during the latest check of voter lists, so expect more debates (and probably new rules) around how birth certificates are handled in Bengal going forward.