‘Cheating, impersonating IB officer’: Patna man held for Mumbai bomb threat has history of fraud
According to the FIR, Kumar allegedly posed as an IB officer in 2022 and promised to arrange a bank loan for Firoz. He is reported to have extorted ₹15 Lakh.
A man was arrested from Noida’s Sector 79 on Friday for allegedly sending a hoax bomb threat to Mumbai Police that put the entire metropolis on high alert during Ganeshotsav. But this was not his first brush with the law.
The 51-year-old accused, Ashwini Kumar, hails from Patliputra in Patna. Earlier, HT reported that he was allegedly trying to take “revenge” on his friend Firoz, who had lodged a case against him in 2023.
“He sent a threat message to Mumbai police identifying himself as Firoz to take revenge and frame him in a false case,” a police officer, requesting anonymity, said.
Now, according to the FIR accessed by The Indian Express, Kumar was previously arrested in June 2023 in a cheating and impersonation case filed at Kotwali police station in Patna.
As per the FIR lodged by complainant Firoz, a Patna-based businessman, Kumar had allegedly posed as an Intelligence Bureau officer in 2022 and promised to help him secure a bank loan using his “IB reference.”
Over the next 18 months, Firoz alleged that he transferred more than ₹15 lakh to Kumar’s bank accounts in Delhi and Noida but never received the promised loan, reported the daily.
{{/usCountry}}Over the next 18 months, Firoz alleged that he transferred more than ₹15 lakh to Kumar’s bank accounts in Delhi and Noida but never received the promised loan, reported the daily.
{{/usCountry}}After the police complaint, Ashwini Kumar was charged under IPC sections 406, 418, 419 and 420, and sent to judicial custody.
{{/usCountry}}After the police complaint, Ashwini Kumar was charged under IPC sections 406, 418, 419 and 420, and sent to judicial custody.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar later applied for a bail, but the plea was rejected by a Patna court in September 2023 after bank records showed he kept most of the ₹8 lakh deposited by Firoz, it also dismissed his defence of a “business relationship,” the IE report said.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar later applied for a bail, but the plea was rejected by a Patna court in September 2023 after bank records showed he kept most of the ₹8 lakh deposited by Firoz, it also dismissed his defence of a “business relationship,” the IE report said.
{{/usCountry}}He later secured bail from the Patna High Court in March 2024.
Living in Noida, working as astrologer
{{/usCountry}}He later secured bail from the Patna High Court in March 2024.
Living in Noida, working as astrologer
{{/usCountry}}Investigators said Kumar had been residing in Noida for the past five years and working as an astrologer.
{{/usCountry}}Investigators said Kumar had been residing in Noida for the past five years and working as an astrologer.
{{/usCountry}}“During the investigation, it came to light that Kumar was residing in Noida for the past five years and working as an astrologer. He is married, but due to a domestic dispute, his wife separated from him,” a senior officer said.
“Kumar has completed his masters, and his father Suresh Kumar is retired from the education department,” another officer added.
The bomb threat, received on Friday, claimed that “human bombs” carrying 400 kg of RDX had been planted in 34 vehicles across Mumbai to trigger explosions that would “shake the entire city.”
