What began as an alleged attempt to enter Jio World Plaza by claiming to be a PMO official has put a 24-year-old Mumbai man under police radar.
Rohan Parekh, son of a diamond merchant, is now at the centre of the case, even as his lawyer has told a court that he himself may have been duped.
A third person accompanying the duo is missing, and police have launched a search for him, HT reported earlier. The group was stopped after security personnel spotted one of the men carrying a gun. A police team was subsequently sent to the address to apprehend Parekh. The other man, Dilip Kunde, was his bodyguard and an ex-serviceman. Police subsequently arrested Kunde and seized a revolver and six live cartridges from him.
Parekh entered Jio World Plaza, a shopping mall that is part of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), at around 4.50 pm on Monday, according to crime branch officers. They are on the lookout for Bagul, 26. Parekh and Kunde have been remanded in police custody until September 11.
Police said Parekh was accompanied by two men when they attempted to enter the plaza. Parekh told police that one of the men accompanying him was his friend Prathamesh Bagul, a Worli resident. Parekh was among two men arrested by Mumbai Police for the security breach and impersonation on Monday at Jio World Plaza, which is housed in the same complex where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to speak at the 7th Global Fintech Fest on Tuesday evening.
