Imposter arrested during Amit Shah’s visit might be a fraud: Police

Police suspect that the 32-year-old man arrested for posing as an official of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) during Union home minister Amit Shah’s trip to Mumbai is a fraud and might have followed the dignitary to Lalbaugcha Raja

Police suspect that the 32-year-old man arrested for posing as an official of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) during Union home minister Amit Shah’s trip to Mumbai is a fraud and might have followed the dignitary to Lalbaugcha Raja.

Union home minister Amit Shah Satish Bate/HT Photo

Wearing a blue blazer and carrying a fake MHA ID card, he was found loitering suspiciously outside the residences of chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Malabar Hill on Monday where Shah was scheduled to visit. Late on Tuesday night, the accused, who gave his name as Hemant Bansilal Pawar, a resident of Sindkheda in Dhule district, was arrested.

Police officers said Pawar now works as a personal secretary to an MP from Andhra Pradesh. “He has good contacts in Delhi and at parliament as he had worked with some MPs. So, he got the job with the Andhra Pradesh MP,” an officer, who is part of the investigation, said.

The police are also inquiring if Pawar had gone to Lalbaugcha Raja when Shah visited the famous Ganeshotsav pandal. The accused has allegedly told the police that he took a taxi from Lalbaugcha Raja and reached Fadnavis’s bungalow while Shah went to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashish Shelar’s house.

“We suspect that he is a fraud. He said he had promised several people to get their works done through his contacts and in some cases, he was to take money from them. He had told those people that he worked in the MHA and therefore we suspect that he wanted to take photographs to gain their confidence,” a police officer said.

Meanwhile, the Central Reserve Police Force that provides security to VVIPs is likely to send a missive to the Mumbai police, highlighting the security issues.

Police officers, however, claimed that there was no lapse in Shah’s security. Pawar might have moved around when Shah visited the places in the city, but he was never close to the minister, a senior officer said.