A cook in the Army who was declared a deserter was arrested on Saturday for allegedly impersonating an Army Lieutenant, the police said on Sunday.
Ghaziabad resident Deepanker Singh also got married recently claiming to be an Army officer, the police added.
Declared deserter
Mr. Singh was declared a deserter several years ago. Admitted to the Army in 2006, he went home on leave a year later and never went back to his unit.
He used to wear a Lieutenant’s uniform with ‘Para Commando’ badges to impress people around him and on social networking sites. He was arrested after an Army man posted at an Army clinic here got suspicious when he spotted the incorrect badges on Mr. Singh’s uniform and alerted the police.
Vipin Kumar, who is posted at the Army clinic, spotted a man in a Lieutenant’s uniform in the clinic on February 26. He asked the accused, who introduced himself as Deepankar S., a Lieutenant posted in Udhampur, if he need any assistance.
“The accused asked for my mobile number and left the clinic. He called a few minutes later asking me to come outside. He was waiting in an SUV and told me that his sister will come to the Army clinic to handover some documents. He said he will collect the document after returning from Udhampur. A woman came to the clinic on February 28 and asked me to verify the documents. I got suspicious and refused to verify the documents,” Mr. Kumar said in his complaint to the police.
“Suspicious, I followed the woman outside and spotted her getting into a car with the accused. I immediately informed my seniors. I made enquires about a Deepankar S. in the Para unit but none of my colleagues knew a person with that name,” said Mr. Kumar.
The police said Mr. Singh called Mr. Kumar on March 7 claiming that his friend, who was on the way to Chandigarh, had lost her bags and urgently needed ₹15,000. The accused told him to deposit the amount in her account immediately.
Mr. Kumar asked him to send someone to the Army clinic as he would not be able to go to the bank to to deposit the money. A few minutes later, two men turned up asking for the money. He immediately informed his seniors and the two men were held at the Army clinic. Mr. Kumar then informed the police.
“Mr. Singh has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code at South Avenue police station. The two men who had gone to collect the money are his brothers-in-law and were unaware that he is not an Army officer. The woman seen with him in the car is a paramedical student, also under the impression that he was an Army officer. A probe is on to determine whether there are more victims,” said a police officer.
