The Ayodhya police arrested an impostor masquerading as an Army officer after input provided by Military Intelligence (MI).
The impostor was identified as Sonu Lal Verma alias Rajveer and was found to have used multiple fake Army identity cards, stamps, Army uniforms and related items to cheat aspiring soldiers at various places.
The police have booked him under sections 419, 420, 467, 471 and 140 of the Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.
Reports said that around mid-October, it was learnt by MI officials through their sources that a suspicious individual, Rajveer (pseudo name) was seen in and around Ayodhya in the uniform of an Army captain. Subsequently, all the details pertaining to the suspect were shared with the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Ayodhya police and a joint team led by Faizabad Circle Officer IPS Nipun Agrawal was formed under the supervision of Ayodhya DIG/SSP IPS Deepak Kumar.
The prime suspect was apprehended by Ayodhya police on Monday and two pairs of uniforms, six fake Army identity cards, two Army stamps, several Army badges, some documents belonging to aspiring candidates, etc. were recovered from his possession.
During joint questioning of the suspect, it was found that Sonu was a former NCC cadet and graduate of Lucknow University. After graduation, he was working in a cloth store in Pune. He started impersonating as an Army captain in 2017 to lure aspiring soldiers, especially at the times of army recruitment rallies.
He has been to Nashik, Dehradun, Bareilly, Amethi, Agra, Lucknow and Ayodhya for targeting aspiring candidates.
It is believed that he has cheated more than 10 such aspirants and received around Rs 7 lakh from them as a bribe for ensuring their selection.