Man arrested for impersonating CMO official, scamming admissions in Pune

A man has been apprehended by the Pune police for impersonating a Chief Minister's Office (CMO) official in order to secure admissions for four students in prominent educational institutions. The individual in question has been identified as Rahul Rajendra Palande, a 31-year-old resident of Keshavnagar in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

In addition, the accused had shared photos on his social media profile where he was seen alongside the Chief Minister (CM). Palande went to the extent of creating a true caller profile that displayed the CMO's information and even forged a WhatsApp message, pretending to be the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the office.

Following a complaint filed by Nitin U Pansare from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), an FIR was registered at the Hinjewadi police station in Pune regarding the admission scam. According to the reports in FPJ, the lid was blown off from the scam when a delegation from Symbiosis International University and another institution met the CM during a function in Pune on Sunday. During the meeting, a member of the delegation informed the officials that they had granted admissions to four students in Pune, Lavale, Hinjewadi, and Bengaluru based on alleged "requests" from the CMO.

In order to substantiate their claim, the member of the delegation presented mobile screenshots as evidence, showcasing the individual who purportedly worked for the CMO and made requests for admissions in the name of the CM. These revelations left the CMO alarmed, prompting an internal investigation. The investigation verified that no such requests had been made by the CMO and further revealed that the mobile numbers used to make the admission requests did not belong to any CMO officials.