A contractual employee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been arrested for forging official letterheads of the Chief Minister’s office as frauds to financially weaker patients by promising them free treatment under the EWS quota in private hospitals, an official said on Sunday.
The accused has been identified as Sonu, 27, a resident of Tagore Garden, Delhi. He was arrested on October 30 following a complaint from the Delhi CMO, the official said.
During the investigation, police found that Sonu had written five such fake letters to hospitals including Action Balaji (Paschim Vihar), Maharaja Agrasen (Punjabi Bagh), BLK Max (Karol Bagh), Mata Chanan Devi (Janakpuri) and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (Old Rajinder Nagar) in the last 1.5 months.
How did the case develop?
Police said the matter came to light after Punjab Bagh-based Maharaja Agrasen Hospital sent an email to the CMO to verify a letter they had received recommending free treatment to patient Shyam Shankar under the EWS category.
“The letter bore the forged signature of top officials of the CM’s office. The hospital management became suspicious as the letter contained spelling mistakes, inconsistent fonts and wrong alignment,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said in a statement.
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The officer further said that they also received a call from a man who identified himself as Balbir Singh Rathee from the CM’s office who instructed them to continue the treatment.
The hospital found the communication dubious and approached the CM’s Office for verification.
Subsequently, an officer on special duty to the chief minister, SC Vashishtha, filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station alleging that someone had fraudulently prepared forged letters using the official letterhead of the CM’s office, according to the statement.
How did the police catch the culprit?
A case has been registered and an investigation has been initiated. During the investigation, the team questioned a patient, Shyam Shankar, who said that his wife Anju had received a letter from a person named Sonu.
The team traced the mobile numbers used by the caller to the Karol Bagh area where it was found that Sonu is employed as a contract mali (gardener) in the MCD office.
When the team raided on October 29, the accused managed to flee, leaving the bag and motorcycle behind.
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The team traced him to Tagore Garden and arrested him the next day. He was seized with a cell phone that contained records of impersonation calls and other active numbers.
“During interrogation, Sonu revealed that he found the original CM Office letter in the dak section of MCD a few months back and decided to use it to make fake copies to earn money,” the DCP said.
It targeted poor patients outside private hospitals who could not afford treatment. He would promise them free entry in the EWS category through the Office of the CM for ₹5000 per case.
The accused admitted to using translation apps to fill patient details on fake letters and also impersonated an official named Balbir Singh Rathee while calling hospital administrators to seek approval.
He also revealed that he used a motorcycle with a fake number plate to avoid being traced.
Among the items recovered from his possession are one dual-SIM mobile phone, several forged CM Office letters, an original letterhead with a senior officer’s signature, a fake MCD identity card, a fake Haryana government identity card and a motorcycle with altered registration plates, police added.
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Originally from Badli in Jhajjar, Haryana, Sonu dropped out of school after his father died in 1999. He worked as a chowkidar and gardener in Bahadurgarh for five years before moving to Delhi in 2023.
He lives with his wife and son in a rented accommodation in Tagore Garden, police said. Further investigations are underway to identify others, if any.
Key things
- The importance of authenticating official communications to prevent fraud.
- Vulnerability of financially weaker patients in access to health care.
- The need for stricter regulations and controls within public administration departments.
