Mumbai’s law enforcers struck gold with the capture of Mohammad Tariq Pathan, who audaciously masqueraded as Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s personal secretary. The 41-year-old from Khed was picked up by Crime Branch near Vashi’s APMC Market hotel. Under the alias Pawan Kumar Yadav, he bombarded police officials with calls, meddling in ongoing probes—from pushing FIRs to securing bail-like favors for crooks—all while pocketing cash from those seeking ‘help’.
His tricks included procuring SIMs from across states with bogus identities and labeling calls from ‘PS to MHA’ on burner phones, fooling recipients into believing they were from the Home Ministry. A key incident unfolded on March 1 when he rang a Connaught Place cop handling a warrant at Grant Road, warning against troubling a certain woman. Luckily, the officer was forewarned.
Pathan’s shadowy operations likely spanned multiple incidents, with constant phone swaps keeping him under the radar. Crime Branch sleuths are interrogating him intensely to map out every tampered case and extorted rupee. With charges filed, the investigation aims to expose any accomplices in this scam syndicate.
Such impersonations undermine public trust in institutions. Authorities are ramping up awareness training for police and appealing to citizens to stay cautious against these confidence tricksters.