New Delhi: In a bizarre case that has stunned the capital, Delhi Police arrested a 27-year-old gardener employed with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for impersonating an official from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and duping private hospitals and poor patients. The accused had been running the scam for nearly six months, using forged letterheads bearing fake signatures and logos to collect money from patients in the name of facilitating their treatment.
The 6-Month Scam: From MCD Mailroom to Fake CMO
According to police, the accused—whose identity has been withheld—was working in the MCD’s postal department at the Karol Bagh office. A few months ago, he allegedly came across an original letter from the Chief Minister’s Office and used it as a reference to create counterfeit CMO letterheads.
Armed with these forged documents, he began calling private hospitals, introducing himself as a “Chief Medical Officer” from the Delhi Government. He promised EWS-category patients (Economically Weaker Section) financial aid and then demanded ₹5,000 from each patient as a “processing fee.”
How the Fraud Came to Light
The scam unraveled when a Delhi-based multispeciality hospital grew suspicious of an official-looking request received for a patient’s treatment. Upon verification, the Chief Minister’s Office confirmed the letter was fake. Following this, the Chief Minister’s OSD (Officer on Special Duty), Rekha Gupta, filed a formal police complaint.
DCP (North) Raja Banthia said the accused had sent at least five forged letters to hospitals including:
- Action Balaji Hospital (Paschim Vihar)
- Maharaja Agrasen Hospital (Punjabi Bagh)
- BLK Max (Karol Bagh)
- Mata Chanan Devi Hospital (Janakpuri)
- Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (Old Rajinder Nagar)
A Small Mistake That Exposed the Scam
Police sources revealed that the fraud came to notice because of spelling errors, mismatched fonts, and irregular alignment in the fake letterhead. The suspicious formatting prompted hospital authorities to verify the communication directly with the CMO, exposing the entire racket.
A senior officer involved in the probe said,
“The accused was posing as an officer named Sonu. He convinced families of poor patients that he could get them free treatment under the government’s EWS quota in exchange for ₹5,000. Many believed him to be a genuine CMO official.”
The Investigation Trail
After tracing the patient and her husband, police obtained the phone number of “Sonu.” His call detail records (CDR) led investigators to Karol Bagh, where he was tracked to an MCD office. A police team raided the premises on October 29, but the accused managed to flee.
Following sustained technical surveillance, the accused was finally arrested from Tagore Garden in West Delhi. Police have recovered several forged letterheads, fake IDs, and a mobile phone used in the scam.
Official Statement
DCP Banthia confirmed,
“The accused had been running this racket for 5–6 months. He forged official CMO documents to cheat both hospitals and economically weaker patients. The investigation is ongoing to identify any possible accomplices.”
The incident has raised serious concerns about document misuse within government offices, as the accused had access to official communication channels due to his MCD posting.
Headline Summary:
A simple spelling mistake on a fake Chief Minister’s Office letterhead helped Delhi Police uncover a shocking case of impersonation — where a municipal gardener turned conman exploited the trust of patients and hospitals for months before being caught.
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