CRPF constable in Army uniform held with over 1,000 suspicious photos in Assam

The man, identified as Yatendra Singh, claimed to be from the 9 Para (Special Forces) unit, and allegedly had photos of him in front of Army installations across the country.

CRPF constable Yatendra Singh and the woman (yet to be identified) have been detained in Assam | Photo: Twitter/@sneheshphilip

Guwahati: A 28-year-old CRPF constable and a woman were detained near Assam’s Kolia Bhomora Bridge, not far from the Tezpur Air Force Station, after the man was found impersonating an Army officer.

According to defence and security sources, the man, identified as Yatendra Singh, claimed to be from the 9 Para (Special Forces) unit. He was accompanied Saturday evening  by a woman (yet to be identified), who he said was his wife. 

Military intelligence (MI) officials have so far allegedly recovered a fake Army canteen card; over 1,000 photographs of him in Army uniform, including some in front of Army installations across the country; contact numbers of Army units and forged documents related to the forces. 

“The person initially said he was from the 9 Para SF. Then said that he was with the CRPF,” a source told ThePrint. “Military intelligence officials became suspicious because he was wearing an Army uniform but with an ‘Indian Army’ badge. No one wears that.” 

“We also found a CRPF identity card and got in touch with the paramilitary force. They confirmed that the man is a constable with the CRPF camp of 132 battalion and was on duty as a guard at the United Nations mission office in Srinagar,” the source added.  

Sources said Singh had taken an Air Asia flight from Delhi on 19 August and checked into a hotel in the Paltan Bazar area of Guwahati. The woman joined him at the airport the next day. According to sources, she was also found wearing a t-shirt with a Para SF insignia.

“We have recovered CCTV footage from the hotel that showed the man checking into the premises in the Army uniform,” the source said. 

The Uluani Police Station in Assam’s Nagaon district has, meanwhile, confirmed to ThePrint that no complaint has been lodged by the Army so far. “He has been detained. The Army authorities are still probing the case,” the source quoted above said. 

‘Woman not his wife’  

The duo was first spotted Saturday evening by a MI surveillance team as they alighted an autorickshaw near the Kolia Bhomora Bridge. The place is situated close to the sensitive Misa camp and the Tezpur military station. 

“He couldn’t answer properly some of the questions that were asked. While he told us that the woman was his wife, records with the CRPF say he is married to another woman. We are investigating the woman too,” the source quoted above said. 

(With inputs from Snehesh Alex Philip)

(Edited by Arun Prashanth)