Artificial intelligence tools were allegedly used to fabricate fake PMO credentials seized from a man arrested at a luxury mall in Mumbai ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, police told a local court on Friday, which remanded the accused and his associate to 14-day judicial custody.
The submission was made before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Esplanade Court) D S Khedekar at the end of the police remand of the primary accused Rohan Parikh (24) and his associate Dilip Kunde (49).
The court rejected the police's plea for further custodial interrogation and sent both the accused to 14 days of judicial custody, following which they submitted a bail application saying their further detention is unwarranted and serves no purpose.
Detailing the extent of the document fabrication, investigators told the court that a search of Parikh's residence yielded multiple forged English documents linked to the PMO using ChatGPT.
"Parikh has confessed to fabricating the fake PMO ID and related official documents using ChatGPT since 2025 to elevate his social standing and boost his self-esteem within his family and social circles," the police submitted in their remand application.
Extraction of his phone's data showed search history related to drafting the PMO correspondence, they said.
The police submitted that Parikh's custody was needed to investigate whether he utilised the forged PMO documents or ID at any other locations. Police also emphasised that Kunde, a former Army personnel, from whom a revolver was recovered, admitted that his personal-use weapon was being utilised commercially to act as a professional bodyguard for Parikh.
Appearing for the two accused, advocate Satish Maneshinde, however, contended that the accused have confessed that they prepared the documents themselves and no third party was involved.
He argued that the police have seized the mobile phones, laptop and various other documents belonging to the accused, and nothing remains to be unearthed.
Nothing further remains to be seized from the accused, he told the court.
The court, after hearing both the sides, held that the ground mentioned in the remand report does not justify further police custody, and sent the accused to judicial custody.
The incident took place on September 7 at the Jio World Plaza mall in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), a day prior to PM Modi's event at the adjacent Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre for the Global Fintech Fest 2026.
Parikh was arrested with a fake PMO card after Kunde, who was accompanying him, was found to be carrying a firearm and an argument ensued between the duo and the mall's security staff.
During the argument, Parikh allegedly claimed he was a PMO official.
The police later clarified that the incident had no connection to the PM's scheduled event the next day.
(With inputs from PTI)