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CBI books Delhi man who claimed to have ‘blessings of PM Modi’ to pitch military projects to PSUs and US Navy

The accused allegedly misused the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Principal Secretary P K Mishra to pitch an indigenous military jet engine project.

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 1, 2026 07:40 PM IST

After reviewing the facts, the PMO found this to be a misuse of the names of PM Modi and Mishra for professional purposes. (File Photo)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 29 booked a self-proclaimed textile engineer from Vasant Kunj in Delhi for allegedly misusing the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Principal Secretary P K Mishra to pitch an indigenous military jet engine project to top defence public sector undertakings (PSUs) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) labs.

In his complaint, A K Sharma, Assistant Director, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), filed with the central agency, said the accused also allegedly approached United States Navy Vice Admiral George M Wikoff.

“It flagged emails sent by one Nisheeth Kohli, a resident of Vasant Kunj, who claimed he sought to help government of India explore development of an indigenous military jet engine and explicitly stated he had the blessings and best wishes of PM Modi to proceed, with credentials validated by Mishra,” the FIR said.

An inquiry uncovered a series of emails, sent by Kohli, and it has been revealed that he allegedly approached the managing director of Premier Explosives Ltd and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as well. “In his emails, he introduced himself as a textiles chemistry engineer from TITS Bhiwani, of the 2002 batch. On December 8, he even reached out to US Navy Vice Admiral George M Wikoff after sending an email,” an official said.

After reviewing the facts, the PMO found this to be a misuse of the names of PM Modi and Mishra for professional purposes. They later decided to file a complaint with the central agency which registered the FIR. Further investigations are in progress.

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