'Name: Dog Babu, Father: Kutta Babu': A Residence Certificate In Bihar

In yet another vindication of social media wisdom that Bihar is "not for beginners", a cute, smiling Golden Retriever with an unimaginative name, Dog Babu, managed to get a residence certificate during the ongoing voter review in the poll-bound state.

Officials concerned cancelled this certificate within minutes, attributing the anomaly to "a mischievous element", but "Dog Babu" and his certificate have gone viral.

The certificate was complete with parental details and digitally signed by revenue officer Murari Chauhan. Issued through the government's Right to Public Service portal, the certificate listed the dog's name as "Dog Babu", his father's as "Kutta Babu" and his mother's as "Kutiya Devi". It said Dog Babu lives in Masaurhi post office area.

Further investigation revealed that the certificate was linked to documents originally belonging to a woman from Delhi. Her Aadhaar card and other documents had been uploaded to the portal, indicating that someone tampered with her data to generate the fake certificate.

Patna District Magistrate Thiyagarajan described the matter as "very serious". "Some mysterious element has made such an attempt. The certificate was issued on July 24 at 3.56 pm and was immediately cancelled within two minutes at 3.58 pm. Whoever is involved in this, whoever has made the recommendation, an FIR is being filed against them, and action is being taken against them. They have been suspended. Through the cyber police station, we are also trying to find who did this and why such an application was filed. We will investigate and take action against all those who are behind this," the official said.

Dog Babu's residence certificate prompted a wave of comments on social media. While some lamented over gaps in verification before official documents are issued, others responded with humorous takes.

Only in Bihar a residence certificate is issued in the name of “Dog babu” with father's name as “Kutta babu” pic.twitter.com/NRcO8pjXjU

— Marya Shakil (@maryashakil) July 28, 2025

What made the certificate more of a talking point is the massive row over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter lists in Bihar. The Opposition has alleged that the voter list revision was a conspiracy to deny voting rights to people. And then, an imaginary dog manages to get a residence certificate.

Masaurhi's Sub-Divisional Officer Prabhat Ranjan called the incident a "cheap joke" and a serious case of tampering with government records. Sources in the sub-divisional office confirmed that digital signatures cannot be applied without access to an officer's official dongle, a secure device used for authentication.

The Patna District Administration released a statement confirming the document has been cancelled and strict action is underway. "Departmental and disciplinary action will be taken against the guilty employees and officers," the statement added.