Three persons were arrested onTuesday for allegedly forging e-passes used for travel during the COVID-19 lockdown in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, police said.The police were probing the authenticity of some e- passes that were issued to the needy and on verifying with the District Collectorate, they found that the documents were fake, senior inspector Ajaykumar Landge of Panvel police station said.Further probe led to the arrest of Maruti Rathod (21), Javed Shaikh (28) and Salim Shaikh (42) from Karanjade area in Panvel, he said.The trio had forged e-passes for travel from Panvel to Jalna during the COVID-19 lockdown, the official said, adding that the police seized four fake passes and cellphones worth Rs 32,000 from the accused.An offence under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and the Information Technology Act has been registered, he added.
