Yashwant impersonator, accomplice arrested

Uttar Pradesh Minority Commission member Afzal Chaudhary, sacked on Thursday by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, was arrested here yesterday on charges of forgery and impersonation.

Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna told the media that Chaudhary would at times “pull up” the officer and also District Magistrate Ritu Maheshwari on telephone pretending to be former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha or Gujarat leader Shankarsinh Vaghela or Ashok Bhan, an MLA and son of former Uttar Pradesh Governor Suraj Bhan.

Once Chaudhary even impersonated Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, Krishna said. The police officer became suspicious and the calls were traced to Mumbai. “Once he spoke to me on telephone very rudely to get road rage accused Jan Mohd and Abid freed from police custody. ”

Similarly, District Magistrate Maheshwari was also told to settle a land dispute in Masuri area in favour of a retired officer.

On Thursday night, however, he was nabbed in Raj Nagar. A Mercedes car and a mobile phone and five SIMs were recovered from him. Also arrested was an accomplice, Krishna Kumar.