Mumbai: Cops on lookout for imposter who provided fake radioactivity testing certificates to customers impersonating as BRIT associate

The Board of Radiation & Isotope Technology (BRIT), a Government of India undertaking, has registered a criminal offence against a man for allegedly impersonating as an associate scientist associated with BRIT-BARC and providing bogus radioactivity testing certificates to private customers.

According to the police, the complainant works as Chief Administrative Officer of BRIT-BARC Complex at Vashi. BRIT is an independent unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) which provides products and services based on radiation & isotopes for applications in healthcare, agriculture, research and industry.

The organisation also does testing of the radioactivity of the food products which are sold or exported by various companies and gives them the result of their testing on the government's official document.

"On September 13, last year, BRIT had received an email from DAE wherein it was enquired if someone by the name of YG Shekhar from Tamil Nadu is working with BRIT or BARC as an associate scientist. The email also provided the employee code number of the said person and informed that Shekhar had been providing radioactivity testing certificates on the letterheads of BARC/BRIT to private persons and had been charging lakhs of rupees from the companies. Shekhar had also told the companies that he has been authorised by the DAE and BRIT to do testing and provide certificates," said a police officer.

The BRIT then made enquiries with their organisation and learnt that no such person has been working or associated with them. The organisation then approached the police and got a complaint lodged in the matter.

The APMC police in Navi Mumbai have registered a case on Saturday under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code.