In a major breach of security, an impersonator operated as an officer on special duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) for eight months using forged appointment letter and ID.
The fraud was detected by an alert IPS during the chief minister's meeting at the state guest house Sahyadri on Tuesday evening and handed over to Mantralay police for further investigation. The senior police officer noticed something amiss and made discreet enquiries about the OSD in the entourage of CM Shinde's support staff.
The impersonator identified as Mayur Thackeray is tax inspector with Anchalpur municipality, Amravati and was earlier OSD to former minister of state for Water Resources and School Education Omprakash Babarao Kadu alias Bachchu Kadu in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Thackeray was arrested by the Mantralaya police and further investigation is in progress about the files handled by the fraudster posing as OSD to the chief minister.
While the CM Shinde's principal secretary Bhushan Gagrani remained unavailable for comments, the CMO remained tight lipped about the fraudster operating in their midst for over eight months without hinderance. “It is a huge embarrassment for the CMO that the impersonator continued without raising any suspicion for over eight months and attended scores of confidential cabinet meetings. The entire CMO working is being reviewed to prevent any unauthorised breach in future,” confirmed another CMO official requesting anonymity.
According to the preliminary police inquiry, the fraudster had managed access to the sensitive CMO on the sixth floor of Mantralaya and using fake appointment letter and ID to mingle with the staff and use the visitors room and empty cabins. The police insisted that Thackeray did not handle any sensitive files in the CMO.
“Several party activists and close associates of ministers hang around mantralay for liasioning work and networking. It is first time anyone has impersonated as an OSD to CM,” claimed another Mantralaya bureaucrat shocked at the audacity of the fraudster.
