A 27-year-old man has been arrested for forging official letters on the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) letterhead to cheat vulnerable patients seeking free treatment in private hospitals, the police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Sonu, posed as a CMO official and issued fake recommendation letters for free treatment under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category in exchange for money.
The fraud came to light after S.C. Vashishtha, Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister, received an alert from Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, which sought verification of a suspicious letter purportedly signed by a CMO officer.
The hospital had also received a call from a man identifying himself as Balbir Singh Rathee, requesting free treatment for a patient named Shyam Shankar. The letter’s poor formatting and spelling errors raised doubts, prompting the hospital to contact the CMO.
A case was registered at the Civil Lines police station for cheating and forgery. The investigation led the police to the Karol Bagh area, where Mr. Sonu, working as a gardener in the MCD office, was traced.
He initially escaped a police raid but left behind a bag containing forged CMO letters, fake IDs, and a motorcycle with a false number plate. He was later arrested at Tagore Garden on October 30. The accused confessed to stealing an original CMO letter from MCD mail to use as a template. He charged ₹5,000 per patient for the forged recommendations, the police said.
Published – November 03, 2025 12:42 am IST
