72-year-old SoBo bizman booked for showing fake army ID for passport renewal

The suspect, who lives in Malabar Hill and has a perfume business, claimed that he worked in Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

Mumbai A 72-year-old businessman has been booked for allegedly providing fake identity cards of the Indian Army during his passport renewal in the regional passport office in Bandra-Kurla Complex area.

Sanghrajka Harshad has been booked for cheating and forgery but the police did not arrest him (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The suspect, who lives in Malabar Hill and has a perfume business, claimed that he worked in Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as Lt. General scientific and strategic advisor (joint intelligence service).

Sanghrajka Harshad has been booked for cheating and forgery but the police did not arrest him. His statement has been recorded and he was released after serving notice, said a police officer.

As Harshad has a perfume business, he needs to visit several countries for business purposes. However, his passport was supposed to expire within six months, so he wanted to renew it soon.

According to the police, the incident occurred on September 2, when the regional passport officer from BKC office called the police station informing them that Harshad has visited and had shown an Indian Army identity card claiming that he worked in DRDO but his identity card seemed suspicious.

After the police visited the office, they checked the document and brought Harshad to the police station. “Harshad was brought to the police station and while verifying, he confessed that he was not attached to DRDO. As per the preliminary investigation, it appears fake so we called the concerned department and learnt that there is no such employee,” said a police official.

During the investigation, it was learnt that Harshad wanted to renew his passport soon so he could visit the United State of America (he had taken a visa) for his business purpose. “He showed the fake identity card of the Indian Army which got made four years ago as he loves Indian Army service but never misused it. Except for renewal of his passport, there was no other intention found during the inquiry so it is not required to arrest the person in the case,” said senior police inspector Vishram Abhyankar of the BKC police station.