Man held for duping people by posing as Army officer in UP's Ayodhya: Police

Talking to PTI, Ayodhya DIG Deepak Kumar said, "We have arrested an imposter, who posed as an Army officer, based on inputs provided by the Military Intelligence (MI)." According to Faizabad Additional Superintendent of Police Nipun Agrawal, the accused is a resident of Akohari village under the Maurawa police station of Unnao district. Around mid-October, it was learnt by MI officials that the accused was seen in and around Faizabad and Ayodhya wearing the uniform of an Army captain and introducing himself to people as Rajveer.

Police in this Uttar Pradesh district arrested a man on Monday for allegedly duping people by posing as an Army officer and promising to get them recruited into the force. The accused, Sonu Lal (26), a Lucknow University graduate and a former NCC cadet, used to work as a salesman in a garment store in Maharashtra's Pune till 2017, the police said.

He has cheated more than 10 youngsters of a total of around Rs seven lakh by posing as an Indian Army captain and promising to get them recruited into the force, they added. Uniforms and fake identity cards of the Army, besides stamps and other documents were seized from the possession of the accused, the police said.

The accused had been to Army recruitment rallies in Nashik, Dehradun, Bareilly, Amethi, Agra, Lucknow and Faizabad to target potential victims, they added. Talking to PTI, Ayodhya DIG Deepak Kumar said, "We have arrested an imposter, who posed as an Army officer, based on inputs provided by the Military Intelligence (MI)." According to Faizabad Additional Superintendent of Police Nipun Agrawal, the accused is a resident of Akohari village under the Maurawa police station of Unnao district.

Around mid-October, it was learnt by MI officials that the accused was seen in and around Faizabad and Ayodhya wearing the uniform of an Army captain and introducing himself to people as Rajveer. They subsequently got to know that he was an imposter, Agrawal said. The details pertaining to the accused were shared with the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Ayodhya Police and a joint team led by Agrawal arrested him.

The accused has been booked under sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc.) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and will be produced before a court, the police said..