(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-17 14:56

NEW DELHI - A fake government office has been discovered in northern India that collected taxes, provided civic services and even handed out birth and death certificates, a report said Monday.

An office was set up outside Jhansi town in Uttar Pradesh state and 20 people were employed to carry out jobs such as street sweeping.

Officials believe the operation originally started as a scam to collect fees from residents in return for one municipal janitor.

But the leader of the operation, named as Shyam Valmiki, allegedly branched out, opening a functioning office that employed a team of janitors.

"He later seems to have decided to carry on with the office as it did not appear to be a loss-making proposition," an unnamed police officer was quoted by Times of India saying.

The scam only came to light after some employees complained about salary problems to superiors in the actual government department, the report said.

"We were shocked to hear this as we ourselves were not aware that our department had a branch office," R. Kulkshreshtra, an official with the Jhansi Municipal Corperation, told the newspaper.

It is not known how long the office had been running before being uncovered.

"It would have been difficult for me to believe that a racket like this could exist had we not actually stumbled upon this," Jhansi district official Rajeev Agarwal told the newspaper.

One man employed by the office as head supervisor of street cleaners said he had no way of knowing the branch was fake when he got his job.

"There was hardly any scope for suspicion," said Anirudh Singh Yadav.

"After submitting the papers we went for a medical examination and were provided certificates."

Valmiki, who was said to be an employee of Jhansi Municipal Corporation, was not at the office when police went to search it, the paper said.

The office was located seven kilometres (4.3 miles) outside the city and used a signboard of the Jhansi Municipal Corporation.