Lucknow/Ghaziabad, Jul 23 (PTI) “West Arctica”, “Saborga”, “Lodonia”, “Poulvia” -these were among fictitious ‘countries’ a Ghaziabad man claimed to have represented as a self-styled diplomat while operating their bogus ’embassies’ from his rented residence less than 35 km from Delhi.
A cursory internet search reveals that “West Arctica” is a non-profit for climate action and an unrecognised micronation in Antartica, Lodonia is a micronation (a self-declared entity but not officially recognised as nation) in southern Sweden. Similar searches for Saborga and Poulvia yielded little result.
The “diplomat” was working out of the “consulate” which also hoisted “flags” of these “nations” and a fleet of luxury cars with special blue coloured number plates parked outside, police said.
The conman’s elaborate deception, however, came to an end on Tuesday when the Uttar Pradesh police’s Special Task Force (STF) arrested Harsh Vardhan Jain and uncovered a stash that included 44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currencies, multiple forged diplomatic passports, and 18 fake diplomatic number plates.
Additional Director General of Police Amitabh Yash on Wednesday said Jain was running the bogus embassy out of a rented property while projecting himself as a consul or ambassador of micronations such as “West Arctica”, and non-existent countries like “Saborga”, “Poulvia”, and “Lodonia”.
“The accused was running the bogus embassy from a rented house and projected himself as a consul or ambassador of these made-up countries and moved around in vehicles bearing fake diplomatic number plates,” said Yash.
He added that Jain allegedly used morphed photographs showing himself with prominent figures like the prime minister, the president, and other dignitaries to mislead people and gain influence.
Jain, Yash said, was also previously associated with controversial godman Chandraswami and international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
In 2011, Jain had been booked for the recovery of an illegal satellite phone, also at Kavi Nagar police station.
After his arrest, STF team seized four luxury vehicles fitted with fake diplomatic number plates, along with 12 forged diplomatic passports, forged PAN cards, and 34 rubber stamps belonging to various countries and private companies.
Two fake press cards and seals forged in the name of the Ministry of External Affairs were also recovered.
STF SSP Sushil Ghule, in an official statement, said Jain had been impersonating ambassadors of multiple countries and lured people with false promises of employment and connections abroad.
“The accused Harsh Vardhan Jain, a resident of Kavi Nagar in Ghaziabad, was operating a fake embassy from a rented house, posing as an ambassador of multiple countries. Some vehicles were also seized, all bearing unauthorised diplomatic number plates. To influence people and con them, he used morphed photos showing himself with prominent public figures,” Ghule said.
“His main objective was to use these fake identities for brokering, claiming to provide overseas job placements, and running a hawala racket through shell companies. He was arrested by the STF Noida team,” he added.
“The accused was also arrested back in 2011, when an illegal satellite phone was recovered from him. The case was lodged at Kavi Nagar police station. During the latest arrest, four luxury vehicles were seized, all with diplomatic-style plates. Additionally, 18 more fake diplomatic plates, 12 forged passports, fabricated seals of the Ministry of External Affairs, two fake PAN cards, multiple foreign country seals, and two fake press cards were recovered from him,” Ghule further stated.
ACP Kavi Nagar Bhaskar Verma said an FIR has been registered at the local police station and further proceedings are underway.
Inspector STF Sachin Kumar told PTI that Jain’s fake embassy also had “flags of these nations” which were regularly hoisted on its premises to give an impression of a genuine consulate. PTI ABN COR KIS ZMN
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