Trio barges into police chief’s redressal meet, fakes central govt links

The police said this was a criminal conspiracy to misuse the name of a personal assistant of a central minister to get an offence registered

MUMBAI: Three people, who attended the grievance redressal sitting conducted by Mumbai police commissioner Deven Bharti, by flaunting the name of the personal assistant of a Union minister, were detained by crime branch sleuths.

Deven Bharti meets members of the public at 3.30pm every Tuesday to address grievances about the police force. (X/Commissioner of Police, Greater Mumbai)

Police later found there was no personal assistant to any Union minister by the name given by the trio, nor had any senior police officer received any information from any Union minister regarding their visit to the police commissioner’s office. Police registered an offence against one of the three; he was arrested and later released.

Bharti meets members of the public at 3.30pm every Tuesday to address grievances about the police force. On October 28, three people identified as Ashok Shah, 58, a businessman from Santacruz, Jeetendra Vyas, 57, a Kandivali resident, and Dhirendra Kumar Vyas, 52, a Bhayander resident, also attended the sitting.

When a constable asked about their complaint, they told him they had been sent by “Bharat Mann”, personal assistant to a central minister. When questioned, Dhirendra Vyas told the police that his colleague, Ashok Shah, needed to get a financial complaint resolved urgently by getting an offence registered. They claimed that “Bharat Mann”, PA to a Union minister, had spoken to senior police officials and they were told to meet them.

Probing further, police found a phone number saved under the name “Mann” in Dhirendra Vyas’s phone. They also uncovered a cheating case registered against him dating to 2015.

Police said this was a criminal conspiracy to misuse the name of a personal assistant of a central minister to get an offence registered for Ashok Shah. Prima facie, police suspect Dhirendra Vyas may have accepted money to get the offence registered.

“We arrested Dhirendra Kumar Vyas, who was later allowed to go on a notice. He appears to be a fraudster as there is no “Mann” with any central minister,” said the police officer.

Dhirendra Vyas has been charged at the Azad Maidan police station, under sections 204 (impersonating a public servant), 319 (cheating by impersonation) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.