Mumbai: A metropolitan magistrate court in Mumbai remanded 24-year-old Rohan Parikh and his armed bodyguard, 49-year-old Dilip Kunde, to 14 days of judicial custody on Friday following their arrest for attempting to enter a luxury shopping mall using a fabricated Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) identity card. Produced before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate D.S. Khedekar at the Esplanade Court upon the expiry of their initial police remand, the pair faced allegations of impersonation, fraud, and unlawful possession of a firearm. During the remand hearing, police disclosed that Parikh admitted to fabricating official PMO credentials and related correspondence with the assistance of artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT in an attempt to elevate his social status and self-esteem among family and peers.
Investigators told the court that a search of Parikh’s residence in Khar yielded multiple English-language documents linked to the Prime Minister’s Office. Digital forensic extraction of Parikh’s mobile phone and computing devices revealed search records and prompt histories specifically related to drafting official PMO communications and appointment letters. Seeking extended police custody, investigators submitted that additional time was necessary to conclude technical examinations of the seized devices, trace a third absconding associate named Prathamesh Bagul, and determine whether the forged credentials had been used to access other high-security government facilities or commercial establishments.
The police also scrutinised the role of Kunde, a former serviceman from whom officers recovered a licensed 0.32-bore revolver and live ammunition. Authorities submitted that Kunde’s firearm permit was restricted to Nashik Rural district, rendering its carriage in Mumbai an offence. Furthermore, police alleged that Kunde admitted his personal firearm was being utilised in an unauthorised commercial capacity while serving as Parikh’s private bodyguard.
Opposing the police plea for extended custody, senior defence counsel Satish Maneshinde argued that Parikh had already cooperated fully and conceded to creating the documents without the assistance of any third-party criminal network. Maneshinde maintained that continued police detention served no constructive investigative purpose since all physical and electronic evidence had been secured. After assessing the rival submissions, the magistrate concluded that the police grounds did not justify further custodial interrogation and transferred both accused to judicial custody.
The arrests occurred on September 7 at the Jio World Plaza in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), where private security guards intercepted Kunde after detecting the firearm at a security metal detector. Parikh then intervened, flashing a digital PMO identification card on his mobile screen to override the security protocols. The incident took place adjacent to the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre a day prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled appearance at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, although Mumbai Police confirmed that the duo’s actions were unrelated to the Prime Minister’s official programme.
