While Amit Shah’s two-day visit ended on Wednesday, the news about the security lapse emerged on Thursday morning.
Mumbai: A man, pretending to be a Home Ministry officer, came close and roamed freely around Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the leader’s visit to Mumbai on Wednesday. Once alert about the security lapse, the authorities quickly caught the man.
While Shah’s two-day visit ended on Wednesday, the news about the security lapse emerged on Thursday morning. The man was identified as Hemant Pawar, a personal secretary of an MP from Andhra Pradesh.
Pawar reportedly moved around Shah for hours wearing a Home Ministry I-card. The police said Pawar posed as an officer overseeing the security arrangements.
What is more bizarre to note is that Pawar was around Shah in two events and was also spotted outside the homes of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
It was only after a Home Ministry official, who grew suspicious, informed the Mumbai Police that Pawar was questioned. It was then learnt that his name was not on the list of the security team for Shah.
Pawar was arrested and sent to police custody for five days. Shah visited Mumbai for the first time after Shinde became Maharashtra Chief Minister following a split in the Shiv Sena.
After heightened political drama in Maharashtra for over a week, things settled after the Supreme Court turned down a Shiv Sena plea to stop a floor test ordered by the Governor and subsequently, Uddhav Thackeray quit as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Thackeray announced his decision through Facebook live and in some time, reached the Governor’s house and submitted his resignation.
