Punjab police on Saturday clarified that Bharat Kumar and Sumit Kumar are two different people.

Bharat Kumar, who was arrested by Punjab police on June 9, had impersonated Sumit and used the latter’s name and identity documents to sign the rent agreement with the owner of flat 201, Block B153 at Shukhobrishti housing complex, the Punjab police said. The revelation came with the arrest of the “original” Sumit Kumar in Mohali on Saturday morning.

A senior officer of the Punjab police said Bharat Kumar impersonated his business partner Sumit Kumar during his visit to Calcutta with the two gangsters Jaipal Bhullar and Jaspreet Singh alias Jassi in the third week of May. Bharat had used Sumit’s Aadhaar card and passport details as his own identity documents to finalise the rent agreement with the Shukhobrishti flat owner.

Initially, after Bharat’s arrest, he had succeeded in convincing the police that he had taken a false identity as Sumit Kumar. On prolonged interrogation, however, he purportedly admitted the existence of another person whose name is Sumit Kumar, the police said.

Bharat and Sumit had been business partners since 2015 and were allegedly involved in illegal procurement and sale of fancy mobile SIM cards, including numbers registered with foreign telecom companies, said the Punjab police.

While helping Bhullar and Jassi flee from Gwalior to Calcutta, Bharat used an official ID of a Punjab police constable named Amarjit Singh at all the toll plazas. “Although, Bharat claimed that constable Amarjit Singh is his and Sumit’s mutual friend, police are investigating why he had Amarjit’s official ID and if the latter had any knowledge of his ID being misused,” said an officer of ADG rank in the Punjab police.

During his stay in Calcutta, Bharat assumed the identity of Sumit and stayed in a hotel in New Town while arranging Bhullar and Jassi’s stay at two hotels for two and three nights, respectively.

Bharat had been arrested in his Honda Accord on June 9. He had purchased the four-wheeler in 2016 but it was still registered in the name of its first owner.

Sumit is a resident of Meham in Haryana’s Rohtak city. “The fact that Sumit Kumar’s passport and Aadhaar card were used to rent the apartment for providing a safe shelter to two gangsters also makes him culpable,” said a senior officer.

The police said they were investigating the duo’s role in helping the gangsters in the past.