Fraudsters Use Donald Trump, Amitabh Bachchan Names To Enter India's Himachal

Former US President Donald Trump and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan recently wanted to travel to Himachal Pradesh, according to two fake e-passes that are required to enter the Indian state amid the rise in Covid cases.

The police have registered an FIR. "HP Police is in receipt of a complaint regarding fake registration in the name of Mr. Donald Trump and Mr. Amitabh Bachchan in the Covid e-pass platform. Shimla Police is registering a FIR under relevant sections of IPC and IT Act for further legal action," read a tweet on behalf of Himachal Pradesh Police.

Some of the Twitter users demanded for strict action to be taken against such people.

Another commented, "This shows seriousness of government amidst COVID-19, if you don’t have good health infrastructure at least don’t leave citizens of HP to die because of your own carelessness. Why not restrict non-essential travel in first place for everyone?"

According to the police, the e-passes -- HP-2563825 and HP-2563287 -- have the same mobile and Aadhar numbers, according to India Today.

A complaint was filed by the Department of Information Technology, Himachal Pradesh, following which an FIR was registered at Shimla East police. It was alleged that misinformation was being circulated on social media and news channels about the issuance of e-passes on the basis of wrong information by the district administration.

The Himachal Pradesh government had issued an order on April 26 that made it mandatory for people who wished to enter the state to register themselves and get an e-pass.

Himachal Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said that the issuance of passes during the “corona curfew” period is a formality. He said that the passes were being issued without any verification. But the government blamed some pranksters for the act, reported The Times Of India.

Urban development minister Suresh Bhardwaj and IT minister Ram Lal Markanda issued a statement, and said that it was unfortunate that some mischievous elements with ulterior motives and nefarious designs were using fake names and addresses while applying for Covid e-pass. They said that the aim of the service was to provide hassle-free entry to people visiting the state and also making sure that the locals were safe.

An investigation into the matter is currently ongoing.