A man, posing as an IAS officer, was arrested for allegedly duping several vendors of more than Rs 2 crore across the country under the guise of the Centre’s Rashtriya Gramin Saksharta Mission (RGSM) scheme, police said on Monday.
The accused, identified as Saurabh Singh, an office bearer of the fake trust, was arrested from Lucknow on September 15 following sustained surveillance and raids in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. His associates — Ratnakar alias Karunakar Upadhyay and Anita Upadhyay — were arrested in July.
“According to investigators, the accused created a trust and a website resembling a government scheme, published fake tenders and even used forged letterheads claiming RGSM to be ‘a Government of India undertaking’,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing) Amrutha Guguloth said in an official statement.
They posed as IAS officers to win the confidence of vendors and executed agreements for the supply of uniforms meant for underprivileged schoolchildren, the officer added.
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After obtaining supplies, the accused failed to make payments and further induced vendors to deposit large sums as commission, earnest money and stamp duty. One complainant alone was cheated of uniforms worth several crores and induced to pay about Rs 2 crore as commission for tender allotment, police said.
During the probe, police recovered around 45,000 uniforms valued at Rs 1.5 crore, Rs 2.79 lakh in cash, a gold chain, a gold ring and a car purchased from the proceeds of crime. Two flats acquired by the accused have also been identified for attachment.
Police said Ratnakar has a long criminal record, including over 10 cases of cheating, forgery and rape in Uttar Pradesh.
“Anita, head of the trust, was an authorised signatory of RGSM accounts and beneficiary of siphoned funds. Saurabh, who was on the run before his arrest, is also facing two cases in Ayodhya under the Gangsters Act and for forgery,” the Additional CP added.
Six cases have already been registered against the accused in Delhi, while similar cases are pending in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
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