India News | ED Gets Man Arrested for Impersonating Former Lava MD at AIIMS
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Delhi Police on Friday arrested a man at AIIMS for allegedly impersonating the former MD of Lava International mobile company, who is an accused in a money laundering case against Chinese smartphone maker Vivo-India and others, officials said.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Friday arrested a man at AIIMS for allegedly impersonating the former MD of Lava International mobile company, who is an accused in a money laundering case against Chinese smartphone maker Vivo-India and others, officials said.
Naval Kishor Ram was getting his echocardiogram done at the ECHO lab of the premier medical institute in the name of Hari Om Rai, former MD of mobile phone company Lava International Ltd when he was nabbed.
The ED had Ram, as well as Rai, his son Pranay Rai, and a few others booked with the police on Thursday.
Rai was arrested by the ED October last year on money laundering charges in the case against Vivo-India. He had obtained a three-month bail from the Delhi High Court on medical grounds in February.
Rai had recently filed an application before the HC for an extension of his medical bail on the grounds that he suffers from cardiac issues. The court in response ordered a cardiac health examination of him at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) with a direction that the report is placed before it on Thursday.
A source told PTI that a team of ED officials had reached AIIMS on Thursday to supervise the medical examination of Rai. He, however, did not appear till 1 pm even as three emails were sent to him during this period.
His son told ED officials waiting at the AIIMS that Rai was "unwell" and would reach the hospital "as soon as possible." the source said.
Faced with non-cooperation, the source said, ED officials and AIIMS staff reached the cardiology ECHO lab where they were "shocked" to find another person being examined by the doctor on duty in Rai's name using the court issued documents.
The man, later identified as Ram, "initially claimed" to be Hari Om Rai but on subsequent questioning disclosed his real name to the ED officials.
He (Ram) said he was instructed by a doctor at a private medical centre, Vasant Health Centre, to take the high court's documents meant for Rai and other original medical records and get a "free treatment" for himself in Rai's name.
Ram and his nephew were detained by the agency at AIIMS and subsequently his personal search was conducted and a 'panchnama' was prepared.
"He (Ram) was instructed to tell his name as Hari Om Rai," the ED officials informed the police in the FIR.
The ED charged Rai, Ram, and others on the charge of "criminal conspiracy" and handed over Ram to the police, which arrested him on Friday.
Ram informed the ED officials that he had done a similar check-up in Rai's name on May 8 and that on Thursday Rai's associate Chandrasekhar Rai brought him for a fresh checkup at the premier facility.
The ED found Hari Om Rai also got "arranged" for Ram to undergo a CT coronary angiogram at a private diagnostic clinic on March 5 and the report "falsely" attributed the cardiac findings to Hari Om Rai.
The agency informed the HC on Thursday about the alleged impersonation and cheating, following which Rai was refused an extension of bail and was sent to Tihar jail under judicial custody.
The police FIR against the accused has been made under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 464 (making false document), 468 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)