CBI Books Gujarat Man for Masquerading as PMO Official to Settle Business Dispute With Top Doctor

In yet another case of impersonating PMO officials, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Gujarat resident Mayank Tiwari for allegedly masquerading as a Director in the Prime Minister’s Office in Delhi. Tiwari stands accused of threatening Dr Adil Agarwal, MD of Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, to settle a dispute.

On September 27 last year, Chirag Panchal, an Undersecretary-level officer in the PMO, had written to CBI that Tiwari was impersonating a ‘Director Government Advisory’ in PMO and using his clout to influence some commercial establishments. Such a designation does not exist in the PMO or Government of India offices.

Threatening messages

Subsequent investigation revealed that Tiwari had called Dr Agarwal (of Dr Agarwal Healthcare Limited) and asked him to forget the Rs 16.43 crore that a former business associate — M/S Vinayak Netralaya — owed to him. Tiwari allegedly also sent threatening messages, pretending to be a PMO official and trying to use his clout.

“I made you a request to sort mutually and it’s up to you how you handle the matter,” he told the CEO of Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital in one of the messages.

Business deal gone wrong

As per preliminary probe, Dr Agarwal had come in contact with two doctors — Dr Pranay Kumar Singh and Dr Sonu Verma — when he was trying to expand his chain of eye care hospitals. Both the doctors operated in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore under the banner of M/S Vinayak Netralaya.

On January 31, 2020, M/S Vinayak and Dr Aggarwal Healthcare entered into an agreement as per which M/s Vinayak would merge with Dr Agarwal and Dr Singh and Dr Verma would work for Dr Agarwal. A sum of Rs 16.43 crore was transferred to M/s Vinayak as per the agreement.

“Dr Singh and Dr Verma, however, continued to divert patients in Indore to hospitals and doctors unconnected to Dr Agarwal in violation of the agreement. They even tried to open a competing hospital. This led to Dr Agarwal invoking arbitration, as provided for in the agreement,” probe officials said.

On July 11, 2022, the arbitration order came in favour of Dr Agarwal. Messages sent by Tiwari to employees of Dr Agarwal started soon after. In a number of messages, screenshots of which have been seen by CNN-News18, Tiwari asked Dr Agarwal’s employees to sort out their issues with Dr Pranay and ‘not put any financial liabilities on him’. In subsequent messages, he says this is his personal request and in future, he is willing to help Dr Agarwal. All messages are signed off as Director Government Advisory- PMO.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested a man identified as Kiran Patel for impersonating a PMO official. UP Police, meanwhile, had arrested Robin Upadhyay for pretending to be Home Minister Amit Shah’s OSD in July this year.