New Delhi (Agency): Police in Surat, Gujarat, have arrested a man who falsely claimed to be a scientist with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Mitul Trivedi, in his late 30s, pretended to be an ISRO scientist to draw more students to his private tuition classes, officials stated.
Trivedi was arrested on August 30, following a complaint lodged against him. He had been seen giving interviews to local media, claiming that he was the designer of the lander module for the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission. To support his false claims, Trivedi produced a fake appointment letter dated February 26, 2022. He claimed to be the “assistant chairman” of ISRO’s “Ancient Science Application department.”
Police released a statement saying, “A thorough investigation revealed that the man was in no way connected to ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission and had made false claims of being an ISRO employee.” He even concocted a story about being a “space research member” for ISRO’s next project, named “Mercury Force in Space.”
By spreading fake information about ISRO, Trivedi harmed the reputation of the Bengaluru-headquartered institution, the police stated. Consequently, the Surat city crime branch filed an FIR (First Information Report) against Trivedi under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating by impersonation, forgery, and using a forged document as genuine.
Sharad Singhal, Additional Commissioner of Police, confirmed that Trivedi is a private tutor who used the false identity to lure more students to his classes. “We contacted the ISRO, which said that prima facie the letter shown by the accused was not issued by it. The space agency will send a detailed reply to us soon,” Singhal added.
When questioned about his motives, Trivedi claimed that pretending to be a scientist would help him attract more students to his tuition classes. The police revealed that he holds BCom and MCom degrees but is in no way connected to any space research or ISRO projects.