India, Aug. 18 -- Two men allegedly posing as senior officials of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) entered a hotel in Gomti Nagar around 1 am on August 15 and allegedly held staff and guests captive while claiming they had come to conduct a search, police said on Monday. The investigation has since led to the recovery of 478 fake MEA ID cards and other documents.

The accused were identified as Abhinav Singh, 29, a resident of Noida and Shivam Chauhan, 29, from Meerut.

The incident took place in Vikas Khand-3. According to a complaint filed by hotel manager Kumar Sarvottam Pathak, the accused introduced themselves as senior MEA officials and said they wanted to inspect the premises.

When staff asked them to show their identities a...