New Delhi: A 32-year-old man was arrested in Mumbai late on the night of Tuesday, September 6, for impersonating an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and loitering around the homes of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis during home minister Amit Shah’s recent visit to the city.
The man, who has been identified as Hemant Pawar, a resident of Dhule in Northwestern Maharashtra, was first noticed loitering around the chief minister and deputy chief minister’s homes by assistant commissioner of police Neelkanth Patil, after the home minister had arrived at the location.
Patil, who was on bandobast duty in the area due to home minister Shah’s visit, questioned Pawar, upon which the latter furnished a MHA identity card and told Patil that he was in town precisely due to Shah’s visit.
According to an Indian Express report, Pawar was dressed in a white shirt and blue blazer, which led a senior officer of the police to say that “one would believe that he was from the minister’s security convoy.”
After checking his ID card, Patil reprimanded Pawar and then let him off. However, soon after, Patil received a photo of Pawar from the deputy commissioner of police, Zone 2, Neelotpal, who noted that Pawar was spotted “suspiciously” moving around the Malabar Hill locality. Patil immediately recognised Pawar.
After Shah left for Delhi, a police officer quoted in a Hindustan Times report said that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was given a description of the suspect from Patil and was told to search for him. Eventually, he was apprehended from Nana Chowk on Monday afternoon.
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When the CRPF nabbed Pawar, in addition to the MHA ID card he had shown Patil, an ID card for the “personal secretary of an Andhra Pradesh MP” was also recovered. After investigating the suspect, it was found that he is a resident of Dhule.
While the Hindustan Time report notes that Pawar does not work for the government in any capacity, reports in other media outlets claim that he is the personal secretary to the Andhra Pradesh MP. No definitive statement on the same has been released by the authorities.
As such, Pawar was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 170 (impersonating a public servant) and 171 (wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent).
Pawar was then produced before the metropolitan magistrate, Girgaum on Wednesday and remanded to judicial custody till September 12. He is expected to be questioned by central investigative agencies.