Man arrested for duping people with forged Delhi CMO letters

The case came to light after Delhi’s Maharaja Agrasen Hospital sent an email to the CMO, seeking confirmation of a suspicious letter recommending free treatment for a patient named Shyam Shankar, police said, adding that letter bore a forged signature of Anil Aggarwal, Officer-Incharge, CMO. The said letter allegedly also had spelling mistakes and formatting discrepancies.

The hospital authorities also received a call from a person, who identified himself as Balbir Singh Rathee, an official at the CMO, and were allegedly asked to proceed with the treatment. They, however, instead reached out to the CMO, which confirmed that the letter was forged.

Following a complaint by S C Vashishtha, Officer on Special Duty to the CM, a case was registered at Civil Lines police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A special team, led by Inspector Hanumant Singh, SHO (Civil Lines), launched an investigation. Technical surveillance subsequently traced the suspect’s mobile numbers to Karol Bagh, where Sonu works at the MCD office. During an initial raid, the accused fled, abandoning his bag and motorcycle. Officers said his bag contained multiple forged letters, a fake MCD identity card, and other incriminating documents.

The police later tracked the accused to Tagore Garden, where he was apprehended on October 30. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime. Police added that he revealed that he had found an original letter from the CMO in the MCD’s mailbox and used its template to create fake letters.

“He admitted to impersonating an official named Balbir Singh Rathee while calling hospital administrators to lend credibility to his deception. Sonu also disclosed that he used a motorcycle with a fake number plate to conceal his identity and movements,” said Raja Banthia, DCP, North, adding that in the last one-and-a-half months, Sonu has written five such fake letters to five hospitals — Action Balaji (Pashchim Vihar), Maharaja Agrasen (Punjabi Bagh), BLK Max (Karol Bagh), Mata Chanan Devi (Janakpuri) and Sir Gangaram Hospital (Old Rajinder Nagar).

“Further investigation is underway to ascertain if others were involved in the forgery racket,” the DCP said.

A mobile phone with two active SIM cards used for impersonation, an original letter from the CMO bearing authentic signatures, several forged letters prepared on CMO letterheads, a fake MCD ID card, a fake Haryana government ID card and motorcycle with a tampered registration plate were recovered, police said.

Sonu, a school drop-out, hails from Badli in Haryana’s Jhajjar. He is married and has a son