Mumbai: The Anti-Extortion Cell of the Mumbai Police has arrested two individuals for allegedly attempting to extort Rs 4 lakh from a complainant by using a letter purportedly carrying the forged signature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said on Monday.
The accused were produced before the Esplanade Court, which remanded them to three days of police custody for further investigation.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Tausif Hussain Ismail Patel (44), an advertising professional associated with Target Media, and Siddhinath Dinanath Pandey, alias Sunil (43), also linked to the same firm.
Both are residents of Ganesh Building in Shastri Nagar, Goregaon (West). They were arrested on April 4 at around 7:30 p.m. Advocate Birendra Yadav represented the accused in court proceedings.
According to the complaint, the victim runs an NGO, which has been involved in social work since 2020, focusing on underprivileged children, old age homes and orphanages.
The complainant reportedly came into contact with Tausif Patel and another associate, Farnaz Wadia, during a social event in 2022.
The duo allegedly introduced themselves as journalists and maintained contact through WhatsApp, regularly sharing updates related to the complainant’s activities.
On March 18, Patel is said to have sent a voice note via WhatsApp offering to arrange a birthday greeting letter from the Prime Minister’s Office in exchange for money. The complainant initially dismissed the claim as fake, but the accused allegedly continued to insist that the offer was genuine and demanded Rs 4 lakh as “PR charges.”
Subsequently, on March 28, Farnaz Wadia allegedly sent a digital copy of a letter bearing the Prime Minister’s signature, addressed to the complainant and praising her social work. The complainant briefly shared the letter on social media but later deleted it after colleagues raised doubts about its authenticity.
Police said that following this, the accused intensified their demands and allegedly created a fake email ID in the complainant’s name to add credibility to the forged communication.
On April 2, the complainant arranged a meeting with the accused at a cafe in Worli. During the meeting, they allegedly claimed to have contacts within the Prime Minister’s Office and reiterated their demand of Rs 4 lakh in exchange for providing a framed “original” letter.
Facing continuous pressure and alleged threats, the complainant approached the police. Acting on the complaint, the Anti-Extortion Cell conducted a technical investigation and laid a trap at a hotel in Worli Sea Face, where the accused were caught red-handed while allegedly accepting the extortion money.
During the operation, police recovered several items from the accused, including a framed fake birthday greeting letter purportedly signed by the Prime Minister, bundles of toy currency notes along with two genuine Rs 500 notes, and two mobile phones allegedly used in the crime.
A case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, covering charges such as cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, extortion and cyber fraud. The FIR was initially lodged at Worli Police Station and later transferred to the Anti-Extortion Cell for further probe.
The investigation is being led by Police Inspector Arun Thorat of the Anti-Extortion Cell.
Officials suspect that more individuals may be involved in the racket and are examining multiple angles, including the origin of the forged Prime Minister’s signature and letterhead, the digital tools used to fabricate the document, and the possible involvement of accomplices, including those based outside Maharashtra.
Police are also probing whether similar frauds have been carried out using forged documents of other government officials.
Further investigation into the case is ongoing.
(IANS)
