'Hello, me Sharad Pawar boltoy': Two persons held for impersonating NCP chief

Photo used for representational purpose

The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested two people on Thursday for mimicking the voice of Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar to get an officer transferred in Mantralaya. Their accomplice in another case where they earlier impersonated the veteran politician, was also arrested on Thursday.

According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, on Wednesday, a secretary level officer of the Revenue Department of Mantralaya received a call, wherein the caller claimed to be Pawar, calling from Silver Oak. Silver Oak is the NCP leader's residence in Mumbai. The caller asked that a junior officer from the Revenue Department be transferred to another department. The number on display was that of Silver Oak. However, the officer at Mantralaya who had received the call, felt something was amiss and called Silver Oak. He was told Pawar was in New Delhi. The matter was informed to the police.

The Gaondevi police registered a case and transferred it to the Crime Branch. In the investigation, it was found that Vikas Gurav, 51, and Kiran Kakde, 26, had made the call. It was also found that they had used the spoofing app, through which it is possible to display another number when making a call.

A Crime Branch official told mid-day that the arrested accused are residents of Pune and unemployed.

The other case involving the accused duo and main accused Dheeraj Dhanaji Pathare is from Chakan, Pune. The police said the accused had recently called one Prataprao Khandebharad and demanded money in Pawar's voice.

Pimpri Chinchwad Commissioner of Police Krishna Prakash said, "After the Mumbai police's investigation, Pimpri Chinchwad police will interrogate the accused."

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.