On August 29, Tuesday Surat Police Crime Branch arrested Mitul Trivedi, the bogus scientist who claimed to play a vital role in the development of the Chandrayaan-3 design. The Surat Police Crime Branch registered a case against Mitul Trivedi under sections 478, 471, 419 and 420 of the IPC. Later in the evening, he was taken into custody.
The police will now take further action after conducting a detailed probe into the case.
સુરત:મિતુલ ત્રિવેદીની ધરપકડ, ક્રાઈમ બ્રાન્ચે દાખલ કરી ફરિયાદ#Gujarat #news18gujaratino1 #surat pic.twitter.com/RCCokuMnRN
— News18Gujarati (@News18Guj) August 29, 2023
According to reports, the Surat police had summoned Mitul Trivedi to question him regarding the claims he made about playing a crucial role in designing the Chandrayaan-3 but he failed to submit any evidence to substantiate his claim. Later the case was handed over to the Crime Branch. Trivedi was finally detained by police after ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru confirmed that he was associated with ISRO in any manner.
The Surat police are now going to probe Mitul’s education qualifications.
Sharad Singhal, the City Additional Police Commissioner, claimed in a press conference that Mitul Trivedi had claimed to be an ISRO scientist, but the police had contacted ISRO and learned that there was no such person associated with the organisation.
Singhal further said that when Mitul was interrogated it emerged that he ran tuition classes and had purposefully disseminated these stories in the hopes of attracting more pupils. The police stated that an additional inquiry is ongoing and the police will soon be presenting him in court and requesting his remand.
Notably, on August 25, following the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3’s lander on the lunar surface, Mitul Trivedi hogged the limelight, particularly on social media in Gujarat, after he claimed he played a significant role in the development of Chandrayaan-3 design.
Video of Mitul Trivedi claiming to have designed Chandrayaan-3 goes viral, media organisations ru
An audio recording of a discussion between Mitul Trivedi and his teacher surfaced the day after the soft landing of Chandrayaan. In this conversation, both were heard conversing about the mission and its triumphant outcome. Mitul informed his teacher that he is situated at the ISRO centre. During the dialogue, he also asserted that he was the one who formulated the design for Chandrayaan.
Mitul Trivedi also participated in interviews with multiple news channels and made similar claims.
After Mitul Trivedi’s claims were reported by local media and gained traction, a report by Sandesh quoted his neighbours calling out his lies. They claimed that Mitul Trivedi was in his house when the Chandrayaan-3 soft-landed on the moon. The report also claimed that Trivedi had no evidence or information to join ISRO. According to the report, when asked for proof, he said he could not disclose it saying he was on contract.
OpIndia also reached out to Mitul Trivedi for his perspective on the entire situation. He mentioned that he is in the process of providing clarification and that updated information will be forthcoming shortly.
