A woman masquerading as a trainee IAS officer stayed for as many as seven months at the prestigious lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (lBSNAA), Mussoorie, and left the institution without a leaving a trace. The incident is seen as a major security breach as intelligence agencies had repeatedly warned that the academy was on the target of various terror groups. The woman, who introduced herself as Ruby Chaudhary from Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), used an invalid ID card of an IAS trainee for staying in the allotted quarters on the lBSNAA campus from September, 2014 to March 27, 2015.
After Ruby left without any notice on March 27, Academy’s Administrative Officer (security) Satyaveer Singh registered a complaint with Mussoorie Police Station accusing Ruby of being an imposter. A case under Sections 420/467/468/471 of the IPC was lodged against her on Tuesday evening. Rattled by the development, the district administration has shifted Mussoorie Police Station in-charge inspector Harendra Bhandari. She has been replaced by Inspector Chandan Singh Bisht, who will investigate the case.
“The Academy learnt about the woman and her prolonged stay at the institute when she had already left on March 27,” said Dehradun SSP Pushpak Jyoti. The SSP said a special team has been constituted to find out how the woman gained entry into the high-security academy and managed to stay there for so long without the knowledge of the authorities. During her stay at the academy, she frequented the library. Documents seized from the room where she stayed are being closely investigated, police said, adding that the team constituted by the Uttarakhand Police had interrogated Satyaveer Singh, who had lodged the FIR in this connection.
According to Mussoorie sub-inspector Pawan Bhardwaj, Ruby Chaudhary had ensured her stay on the strength of a fake ID card of Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Nainital. The ID card bore her designation as SDM. She claimed before the security guard that she was to undergo training at the academy, after completing her SDM training in Nainital. However, she often used to identify herself as librarian. Police inspected the spot and recovered false ID card of ATI (Administrative Training Institute), Nainital, her fake driving licence, MA (second year)’s marksheet, and a Aadhaar card of unidentified person named Virendra Malik.
The Academy faced threat from terror groups since 2010 and based on the threat perception it had proposed to augment the security arrangements. Subsequently, the security cover to the academy was being provided by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force. The lBSNAA trains over 1,000 civil servants every year. It runs an annual common foundation course spanning four months for all recruits of all-India services and Central services.
