CBI raids premises of Gujarat man who posed as official from PMO

According to CBI, the accused, identified as Maayank Tiwari posed as a high ranking official from Prime Minister Office (PMO) and he is yet to be arrested

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday raided the premises of a 45-year-old man in Ahmedabad, who was allegedly posing as a high-ranking official of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and trying to force an eye hospital chain to “forget” more than ₹16 crore owed to it by an Indore-based hospital, agency officials said.

CBI raids premises of a man in Ahmedabad, who posed as a PMO official. (PTI)

A number of documents were also seized during the searches at the premises of Maayank Tiwari, CBI officials said.

According to the federal agency, Tiwari, a resident of Vadodara’s Chanakyapuri who is yet to be arrested, had allegedly called and sent messages to the promoters of Dr Agarwal’s – which runs a chain of eye hospitals – to settle a dispute with an Indore-based hospital, which owed ₹16 crore to the hospital chain.

Dr Agarwal’s, CBI said, had entered into an agreement on January 31, 2020, with two doctors who ran the Indore-based hospital to join the franchise for which over ₹16 crore was paid. The Indore hospital, however, allegedly violated the terms of the agreement which resulted in a dispute between the two parties. Following this, Dr Agarwal’s sought their money back and a termination of the agreement, the agency said.

During the dispute, the promoters of Dr Agarwal’s allegedly started getting messages and calls from Tiwari, who introduced himself as a PMO official, asking them to forget the dues and settle the matter with the doctors at the Indore hospital, according to a Gujarat police officer.

When the PMO learnt about the incident, it immediately asked CBI to probe the same, said Vadodara SP Rohan Anand. “Prima facie, this is a case of impersonation of PMO official and misuse of the name of the PMO, since neither this individual nor the professed designation exists in this office,” the PMO said in a complaint to CBI.

A Gujarat police officer said Tiwari is a habitual offender. “In June this year, he was arrested on charges of impersonating the director of strategic advisory at the PMO,” the officer said on condition of anonymity. He was granted bail a few days later.

The officer also said that Waghodia police in Vadodara had registered a case against Tiwari under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 170 (personating a public servant) in the impersonation case in June.

(With PTI inputs)