Security Scare at Modi's Mumbai Event : Man With Fake PMO ID, Armed Aide Detained

Just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due to inaugurate the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai on Tuesday, a security scare broke out near the venue after police picked up two men — one pretending to be a Prime Minister's Office official, the other posing as his armed bodyguard.

The two had been hanging around the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, where Modi was expected to arrive around 5:45 pm, and their movements didn't sit right with security personnel on duty. The man at the centre of it all, 24-year-old Rohan Parekh, had reportedly been trying to talk his way into restricted areas using a PMO identity card — one that, on closer look, turned out to be fake. Security had actually first noticed the pair a day earlier, on September 7, and kept an eye on them before finally pulling their documents for a proper check.

That's when things escalated. Not only was the ID bogus, but the man playing bodyguard was found carrying a gun. Both were detained on the spot, a case was registered, and the Mumbai Crime Branch has since taken over the investigation.

Understandably, the incident set off alarm bells. Security teams scrambled to tighten arrangements not just at the venue but across the city, including at the airport, once officers realised how serious the situation actually was. Police have pulled the phones off both men and are now going through call records, trying to figure out if anyone else was involved.

The Fintech Fest itself — one of the biggest events of its kind in the world — was still set to go ahead with Modi's inauguration Tuesday evening. As for what the two men were actually after, that's still unclear. Police haven't said much about motive or who they might be connected to, and the investigation is still very much underway.