Man posing as Punjab official held

MOHALI - A man posing as officer on special duty (OSD) to a Punjab minister has been arrested and fake identity cards of different government departments were recovered from him, police said Thursday.

According to police, Harvinder Singh was arrested Wednesday from a government school here.

He was posing as Parminder Singh, OSD to Education and Languages Minister Upinderjit Kaur. At the time of the arrest, an exam was going on in the school premises.

All the seized fake identity cards bear the name Parminder Singh. The designation on each card is different, the police said.

“Our investigation is on and we are trying to get the details of his past activities and his links in government offices,” said a police official here Thursday.

“Harvinder had reached the government school to help one of the examinees, who was appearing in the compartment exam,” he said.

“When the invigilator asked him to show his identity card, he threatened her with dire consequences. Following this, the supervisor of the examination centre called in the police,” the official said.

The student, whom the impostor wanted to help, managed to flee.

Mohali town is around 10 km from the state capital Chandigarh.

The incident comes close on the heels of another similar case in which an impostor claiming to be adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited this town July 11.

Mohali police had provided VIP security, including pilot and escort jeeps, to take him around the district. Later, he was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police.