Dentist arrested for impersonating Amit Shah, DCI hands him suspension order

Madhya Pradesh: The Dentist Council of India (DCI) has suspended a dental surgeon after he got arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) for allegedly deceiving Madhya Pradesh Governor, Lalji Tandon by impersonating Union Home Minister, Amit Shah. The officials had first nabbed a wing commander of the Indian Air Force, who allegedly impersonated as Amit Shah over a phone call to the state's governor to influence the appointment of his friend, the dental surgeon as the vice-chancellor in a Jabalpur's Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University.

According to recent media reports, the surgeon, who was a national member of DCI; used to upload his pictures with the different leaders on Facebook to become famous among people and to earn money from them by completing their pending government works. He was one of the panel doctors of Raj Bhavan due to which he was familiar with all the processes of the Raj Bhavan. He met the governor a few months ago.

On July 29, 2019, a notification was issued by Raj Bhavan for selection of vice-chancellor of the varsity. The surgeon had also staked a claim for the post and was interviewed on January 3 2020. He had managed to have his name recommended through politicians as he was one of the panel doctors of Raj Bhavan due to which he was familiar with all the processes of the Raj Bhavan. He then approached his old friend Wing Commander Kuldeep Vaghela, posted at New Delhi Air Force Headquarters, for a recommendation.

The two then conspired to make the hoax call on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah to the Governor. The surgeon made a call to Raj Bhavan from his mobile phone number and he took Wing Commander Kuldeep Vaghela on the conference. While he posed as the assistant, the Wing Commander posed as Amit Shah and recommended the dentist to be made the Chancellor of Madhya Pradesh Medical University.

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The Raj Bhawan staff, however, decided to cross-check the caller's credentials and contacted the home minister's staff through another phone. After a conversation, the Governor got suspicious and contacted the Home Minister's office through the staff and inquired about the phone. On learning that the call was not made from the Home Minister's office, they asked the STF to act, reports IANS.

"When the Governor was on the line, the commander spoke to him posing as Shah. After the call ended, the Governor felt something was wrong and asked his staff to find out," Ashok Awasthi, Additional DGP (STF) informed The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Both have been charged with cheating and impersonation under section 419 and 420 and have been remanded to police custody. The STF is further investigating the matter to figure out if he was involved in similar activities before.

After the DCI came to know about this whole fraud allegedly committed by the surgeon, the authority handed a termination order to the dentistDenti

"It is very unfortunate that the doctor has brought a bad name to DCI and the whole dental fraternity by his afore-said conduct. The same cannot be ignored and had been dealt strictly," Dr Sabyasachi Saha, secretary of DCI informed the Free Press Journal.

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