India / IAF officer poses as Amit Shah on phone, asks MP Guv to appoint friend as V-C

Bhopal: A desperate and audacious attempt by Wing Commander, posted at IAF New Delhi, has landed him in jail. The officer posing as Union Home Minister made a call to the state governor to facilitate his frend's appointment as VC. He was arrested by the Special Task Force along with his friend on Friday.

Wing Commander Kuldip Vaghela wanted to see his dental surgeon friend's appointment as V-C of Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University (MPMSU-Jabalpur).

National president of Dental Surgeon Association of India Dr Chandersh Shukla was so passionate to become vice chancellor of MPMSU that he and his friend did not hesitate to take the unusual route.

According to STF, Vaghela called upon Governor Lalji Tandon, posing as Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The STF arrested Vaghela for impersonating as Amit Shah while talking to Governor Lalji Tandon over phone.

According to ADG, MPSTF Ashok Awasthi, the process of selecting next Vice Chancellor of MPMSU was initiated in July 2019, as part of which the Governor had ordered the constitution of search committee to select the new MPMSU VC.

Shukla (who runs a clinic Dental World in Bhopal) too applied for the MPMSU V-C post for and appeared in the interview before the Search Committee on January 3, 2020. “On January 3, he (Dr Shukla) contacted his friend Vaghela for using some high contact/office to facilitate his appointment as VC. Subsequently, Dr Shukla made a conference call to the MP Raj Bhawan on January 3.”

“During the call, Vaghela posed as Shah. He talked to the Tandon for facilitating his friend's appointment as VC,” said Awasthi.

However, after the conference call, the Governor sensed some foul play and instructed his Raj Bhawan apparatus to get in touch with the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and verify whether the Union home minister had actually made the call to the Governor.

When the Raj Bhawan came to know that the call was made by an imposter, it lodged a complaint with MPSTF on Thursday and the STF immediately swung into action.

“Vaghela was arrested from Delhi on Thursday and his friend Dr Shukla was arrested from Bhopal. Both have been booked u/s 419 and 420 of IPC,” the ADG-MPSTF said.

Arrested duo was produced before a Special Court in Bhopal on Friday, after which the court sent the duo into three days STF custody for further questioning.