A shocking case of impersonation has come to light in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district, where a 21-year-old man roamed the city in military uniform, claiming to be a brigadier general. He was arrested by army personnel on Friday after a sting operation at the Shaheed Museum in Shahjahanpur Cantonment.
The accused has been identified as Aryan Verma who was under the Army’s radar for about two months after they received inputs about him frequently seeing him wearing the ceremonial uniform of a Brigadier and presenting himself as a high-ranking officer.
Two guards died as NSG commandos
Verma had a carefully detailed plan to complete the impersonation, where he hired two guards and posed them as National Security Guard (NSG) commandos, HT had reported earlier. He reportedly claimed that he was provided with special security cover and displayed a photo of a high-ranking military officer.
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He was also in possession of a fake identity card that allegedly bore the stamp of the Dean of the Armed Forces College of Medicine. A military baton and a fake pistol were also found in his possession.
How was he arrested?
While the army was tracking him for two months, a trap was set to catch him red-handed. Army officials called him pretending to be civilians and invited him to give a motivational speech to young candidates preparing for recruitment exams. The event was allegedly scheduled to be held at the Martyr’s Museum located within the Cantonment Area.
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The officials said that Verma arrived at the location, as expected, on Friday morning wearing a military uniform consistent with his impersonated identity and was traveling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle (Harrier) bearing military stars and flags associated with senior officers.
Army personnel arrested him upon his arrival. During the operation, officials also found a fake government ID card from his driver.
An Army Intelligence team from Bareilly has now taken over the investigation and is interrogating the accused to ascertain the motive behind the alleged impersonation, while the extent of the impersonation and the source of the fake documents and uniforms are also under investigation.
Superintendent of Police Saurabh Dixit said Verma was currently being interrogated by Army authorities.
On recovering the documents from Verma’s possession, the authorities discovered that he was 21 years old and was residing in Delhi. He was preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination (NEET), and entrance exams for medical studies, and allegedly failed the exam several times.
Verma, his companions and the recovered items were handed over to Sadar Police Station in Shahjahanpur for further investigation and legal action.
The army is coordinating with the local police in this regard.
