Mumbai, Sep 8 Two men were arrested and subsequently remanded to police custody till September 11 by a metropolitan magistrate's court on Tuesday for allegedly forcing their way into a luxury shopping mall in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) area while carrying a firearm and a fake Prime Minister's Office (PMO) identity card.
The arrests of Rohan Parikh (24) and Dilip Kunde (49) followed an incident on Monday evening at the Jio World Plaza, where security guards stopped the duo after discovering Kunde was carrying a firearm. An argument ensued during which one of the accused displayed a digital photograph on his mobile phone of an identity card claiming he was a PMO official.
In a surprising turn during the court proceedings, defence lawyers claimed that Parikh, a 24-year-old student who recently returned from London, was himself the victim of an elaborate scam and had been duped into believing he was a legitimate PMO appointee.
Arguing against the custody plea, Parikh's advocate Anandini Fernandes submitted that her client had been framed and told the court that an individual named Tarun Kapoor (or Gupta) had offered Parikh an advisory role in December 2024, sending him an offer letter alongside a photo of a PMO identity card.
Parikh never received a physical copy of the identity card, the advocate said.
Fernandes said that Parikh was instructed by the scammer to hire a personal bodyguard, leading him to engage Kunde and on the day of the incident, Parikh had visited the mall merely to buy perfume and personal items, extending full cooperation to the security guards and later to the police.
The security guards had become suspicious of the claim of Parikh and had alerted the police, who examined CCTV footage to identify the suspects' vehicle, which was registered in Parikh's name, and tracked them down.
Earlier, a senior police official had said that a man claiming to be a PMO official and his armed 'bodyguard' had been detained at Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's event there on Tuesday evening.
However, police clarified later that the incident had no connection to the Prime Minister's scheduled inauguration of the Global Fintech Fest 2026 event.
Producing the duo before the court on Tuesday, police sought their custody to investigate where they procured the forged PMO credential and to locate a third accused, identified as Prathamesh Bagul (26), who remains absconding.
The police remand application said that while the firearm carried by the accused was licensed, the permit was valid only for Nashik Rural district, making its possession in Mumbai a violation of the law.
Defence lawyer Satish Maneshinde submitted that Parikh was a student who had recently returned from London, and the duo's visit to the mall was entirely private, reiterating that it had no link to the Prime Minister’s schedule.
The magistrate remanded both accused in police custody till September 11 for further probe.
Mumbai, Sep 8, 7:42PM A local court on Tuesday remanded in police custody two men arrested for allegedly forcing their way into a shopping mall in BKC area while carrying a firearm and fake identity card of the PMO, with the police clarifying earlier that the incident had no link to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's event in the city.
Rohan Parikh (24) and Dilip Kunde (49) were produced before a metropolitan magistrate's court which remanded them in police custody till September 11. The third accused, identified as Prathamesh Bagul (26), was yet to be traced, police said.
Earlier, a senior police official had said that a man claiming to be a PMO official and his armed 'bodyguard' had been detained at Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) hours before PM Modi's event there on Tuesday evening. But soon police clarified that the incident had occurred at Jio World Plaza in BKC on Monday evening, and had no connection with Modi's event.
Seeking the custody of Parikh and Kunde, police said they wanted to find out from where the accused had procured the fake identity card. They were also searching for a few more accused, the prosecution told the court.
Advocate Satish Maneshinde, representing the accused, said that Parikh was a student and had recently returned from London.
Their visit to the Jio mall was private and had absolutely no link to the PM's event, he said.
The remand application of the police stated that the accused were carrying a licensed weapon, but the license was only for Nashik Rural district and hence they violated the law by carrying it to Mumbai.
On Monday evening, the accused were stopped while entering the mall when security guards found that Kunde was carrying a firearm. The accused started arguing, and one of them showed a photograph of an identity card that claimed that he was from the PMO.
The guards found it suspicious and informed the police.
The police, after examining CCTV footage, identified the vehicle in which they had arrived and found that it was registered in Parikh's name. Parikh and Kunde were then tracked down.
