Flashed phone ID, claimed PMO link: How two men tried to slip into Modi's Mumbai venue

One suspect allegedly posed as a PMO official while an ex-serviceman accompanying him claimed to be an SPG member and carried a revolver.

Mumbai: Two men were arrested by Mumbai police late on Monday night for a security breach and impersonation at the Jio World Plaza which is housed in the same complex where prime minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to speak at the 7th Global Fintech Fest on Tuesday evening. A third person accompanying the duo is missing, and the police have a launched a search for him.

Police arrested two men and seized a revolver and six live cartridges after the security breach at Jio World Plaza in Mumbai. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

According to crime branch officers, Khar resident Rohan Parekh, 24, gained entry into the Jio World Plaza, a shopping mall that is part of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), at 4.50 pm on Monday evening after telling security on ground that he worked with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Typically, the Special Protection Group (SPG) secures the convention centre five days in advance of the PM’s arrival. The Jio Convention Centre has 22 gates and is spread over 17 acres in the heart of Bandra-Kurla Complex.

According to the police, Parekh, accompanied by two men, tried to gain entry into the Jio World Plaza and was stopped when the security spotted one of the men carrying a gun. Parekh identified himself as a PMO official and showed an identity card on his phone, and was allowed in. The man carrying the gun said he was part of the SPG but was stopped along with the third man. Parekh came out of the plaza within a few minutes after which the trio left the venue.

Parekh is the son of a diamond merchant and has a graduate degree in mathematics and physics from a university in the UK. His counsel, advocate Anandini Fernandes, told a metropolitan magistrate on Tuesday that Parekh himself could be a victim of a fraud. She said he was contacted by a certain Tarun Kapoor two years ago and offered a job in the PMO on a monthly salary of ₹68,000. Parekh, whose uncle has a drone equipment business, was told he was to work on defence policy in the PMO. She told the court that Parekh had received a letter purportedly signed by the PM himself, as also a digital identity card from the PMO. Nashik resident Kunde is a retired serviceman who works as a bodyguard for Parekh’s father, and carries a licensed weapon.

The lawyer told the court the 24-year-old was recently engaged and had gone to the Jio Plaza to buy a perfume for his fiancée. She added that the Khar resident had no ill-intentions and had submitted all the material in his possession to the BKC police and later to the crime branch which is now investigating the case.