JAMMU : A resident of Delhi has been arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for pretending to be an advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and enjoying the hospitality of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board during his visit to the shrine on Monday evening, reports The Indian Express.
Three women, a driver and two guards accompanying him have also been held. The man, identified as Manmohan Singh of 115-A, Fateh Nagar, New Delhi, was carrying an identity card showing him as Advisor to PM, with Minister of State status.
According to sources, Singh had nearly pulled off the charade, but for his "irrational behaviour" with accompanying policemen on the way to the shrine.
After he argued with them on several occasions, the policemen became suspicious and informed senior officials. After his story was exposed, Singh reportedly told the police that he had been "a political advisor" to Manmohan Singh when he was not the Prime Minister.
Sources said the Jammu and Kashmir Police had got a message yesterday from their Punjab counterparts about "the PM's advisor" driving down to the state. A police team along with vehicles from the Jammu Police Control Room (PCR) was sent to wait for him at Lakhanpur -the entry point to Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab.
Singh and the three women arrived late in the evening, and since he reportedly already had a police escort, nobody suspected anything. He was promptly provided a security escort for the drive to Katra, on way to the Vaishno Devi shrine. When the group reached there, the VIP rooms at the Niharika complex owned by the shrine board were opened for them. After a brief halt of 30 minutes, Singh and his group proceeded towards the shrine, again under police protection. They visited the shrine and returned to Katra town on Tuesday morning.
Still escorted by a police party, they proceeded to Niharika for a brief halt.But by then suspicious senior police official shad swung into action and called up Delhi to check his antecedents.
The entire group was rounded up and taken to the police station.While the police have registered a case against Singh,initia linvestigations suggest the others may not have known about his claims of being an advisor to the prime minister.
