Mumbai: A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s event at Jio World Plaza in BKC, the city police on Monday arrested a 24-year-old Khar resident and his private security guard, an ex-Army serviceman, for entering the premises claiming to be associated with Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). A third person accompanying them managed to flee.
The third accused, Worli’s Prathamesh Bagul (26), is on the run. Magistrate D S Khedekar remanded both accused to police custody till Sept 11.
Kunde was carrying a firearm when the mall’s security personnel stopped them from entering, according to the remand application submitted to the court. He told the police that he suspected the email sender could be fake. They said Parikh had told earlier the police that his PMO identity card was genuine and he was working as a scientist on confidential research after being appointed by a senior PMO official whose identity, he claimed, could not be disclosed at this stage. The court was told that the identity card allegedly shown by Parikh did not mention the designation of the issuing officer.
The arrested persons have been identified as Khar resident Rohan Parikh, a science graduate, and his security guard Dilip Kunde. Parikh’s lawyers submitted that he might himself have been duped into believing that he was working for the Prime Minister’s Office. It carried an issue date but no expiry date. Police have seized the card. In its order, the court noted that the presence of the accused in an area associated with Prime Minister’s programme, coupled with the recovery of a firearm from the guard in the restricted premises, warranted further interrogation. The court observed that the investigation had progressed with the seizure of the identity card and firearm, but custodial interrogation was required to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Public prosecutor Kranti Kumbhar opposed the plea, maintaining that the PMO identity card was fake and that investigators needed custody to determine how it was procured and the motive behind it.