23-year-old man held for posing as para commando, duping woman of Rs 70,000 in east Delhi

New Delhi, Sept 4 (PTI) A 23-year-old man who allegedly posed as a lieutenant in the Indian Army's Para Commando unit and duped a woman of Rs 70,000 by promising to marry her has been arrested from east Delhi's Farsh Bazar area, police said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Deepanshu, a resident of Sanjeev Nagar in Kanpur, was arrested on Monday after the complainant, a 28-year-old woman running a medical store in Noida, alerted police when he came to meet her, they said.

The woman met the accused at a wedding, where he introduced himself as a lieutenant. He allegedly met her multiple times wearing an Army uniform, gained her trust and later took money amounting to Rs 70,000 from her, in several instalments citing different reasons.

"The woman grew suspicious about his claims and on September 1 called the police when he visited her again. The man was apprehended and a case was registered at Farsh Bazar police station under sections related to cheating and impersonation," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said.

During investigation, police recovered an Army lieutenant's uniform and a fake identity card from the accused. His mobile phone contained several photographs of him in uniform, as well as forged documents such as an NDA (national defence academy) rank list and an appointment letter, DCP Gautam said in an official statement.

Police said Deepanshu's father retired as a havildar from the Army and the accused had appeared for the NDA exam but failed. "He downloaded a list of selected NDA candidates from a portal, which contained the name of another Deepanshu. He used this to convince his parents that he had cleared the exam and claimed he was leaving for training at National Defence Academy in Khadakwasla. Even his family was unaware that he was lying," the officer said.

Deepanshu later stayed around Kanpur doing odd jobs before meeting the complainant at the wedding and continuing the charade till he was arrested on Monday, police added. PTI SSJ SSJ RUK RUK