Fake IAS officer held Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur (UP), Dec 11 (PTI) A man posing as an IAS officer for the past six months was arrested here, police said on Thursday.

They said they nabbed Lalit Kishor of Sitamarhi (Bihar), who posed as IAS officer 'Gaurav Kumar' on Wednesday.

With the impersonation, Lalit Kishor allegedly created a full-fledged racket involving fake inspections, promises of tenders and jobs, and large-scale extortion.

His brother-in-law Abhishek Kumar and aide Parmanand Gupta have also been arrested, police said.

The fraud was exposed with an anonymous complaint that also revealed that Lalit Kishor had been living in a rented house in Chiluatal and running an office in Jhungiya Bazar.

To appear authentic, he moved around in beacon-fitted vehicles, displayed forged government nameplates and even hired 10 gunmen at Rs 30,000 a month each, complete with a stenographer who he paid Rs 60,000, police said.

Several forged IDs, laptops, jewellery, cash, and many AI-generated photos in which Lalit Kishor had replaced real officials' faces with his own were seized with the arrest.

Lalit Kishor allegedly conducted fake "inspections" at private schools and extorted large sums from their operators. In one instance, his aides reportedly demanded up to Rs 55 lakh from a school in Bhatat.

According to police, Lalit Kishor duped people across UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and MP.

One complainant from Patna claimed he paid over Rs 1.70 crore and two vehicles for tenders.

"Fake IAS officer Lalit Kishor and his two associates have been arrested and sent to jail … anyone who has been duped is urged to approach the police office and file a complaint," Additional SP, CIty Abhinav Tyagi said. PTI CORR ABN VN VN