Vadodara man posing as PMO official arrested for ‘cheating’ pvt varsity trustee

The Vadodara rural police has produced Tiwari in a local court and sought his remand for further investigation of his electronic devices and financial transactions. He has been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections for criminal breach of trust (406), cheating (420), and for pretending to hold any particular office as public servant and in such assumed character does or attempts to do any act under colour of such office (170).

The FIR was lodged following a complaint by Chandrashekhar Dadich, a staff member of Vadodara-based New Era School where Patel is a trustee.

The complaint states that Tiwari had approached the school in March 2022 seeking admission for two children of his friend, whom he introduced as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. “He sent messages on WhatsApp to the school management, introducing himself and sought admission for two children in class two and three at New Era School in Nizampura. He introduced himself as the Director of Strategic Advisory and Director of Government Advisory at the Prime Ministers’ Office… Between March 8 and 17, 2022, he also visited the campus of Parul University in Waghodia to meet our trustee, Gitika Patel, and spoke of having projects for ‘education research’ in Gujarat for which he offered to seek permissions and approvals if the trustee (Gitika Patel) was willing to make investments,” the FIR states.

It adds that Tiwari “persuaded and convinced” Patel to consider making a huge financial investment by posing as a PMO official. However, the university learnt the truth after a private investigation into his background.

“Our trustee informed us two days ago that during a private probe into Tiwari’s background, it
came to light that he did not work at the PMO as he claimed… We also learnt that he is a resident of Vadodara city but his professional details could not be ascertained. By providing a fake identity of a government official, not only did he attempt to be an impostor to cheat our trustee and cause financial loss, but also attempted to damage the country’s image with a criminal conspiracy,” the FIR states.

Vadodara Superintendent of Police Rohan Anand told The Indian Express that during the primary interrogation of the accused, he admitted to have first used the fake identity for “helping friends” during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have learned that the accused has been living in Vadodara since his childhood. His father is a retired BSNL officer. He has been working in consultancy firms and has the knack of convincing people. He has told us that he began using the fake identity during the Covid-19 pandemic to get oxygen and beds for his friends and it worked… Later, he also started using the identity for other benefits. We are probing if he has been involved with government officials or if there are actual crime proceeds or financial benefits from this impersonation,” Anand said. He added that Patel had not made any financial transactions to Tiwari before ascertaining his identity.