New Delhi: On 11 January, Ashma Begum uploaded a video to her Facebook account, showing herself in Saint-Petersburg at VII International Municipal Forum of the BRICS countries and discussing the collaboration between India and Russia across several sectors.
She went on to introduce herself on social media as the BRICS Ambassador to India for the International Municipal Forum. Her Instagram account shows her with the who’s who in Delhi’s power circles, among them Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, and S. Jaishankar.
But unknown to many was that the woman from Assam, in her late forties, had allegedly managed to infiltrate the diplomatic community by posing as a diplomat. That facade came crashing down a few days later when a team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch intercepted her in a car with a forged diplomatic number plate.
She was taken into custody on 15 January, and later police releasing a statement detailing her forgery and impersonation of a highly-ranked diplomat.
“On checking the vehicle, the number plates were also found in the said vehicle. As she impersonated as a representative of an embassy and used the forged number plates on the vehicle in order to cheat govt agencies and for other ill motives, and finding that she may have been involved in anti-national activities along with other persons, which requires an in-depth investigation into the matter,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Sanjeev Yadav said in a statement.
She was booked under Sections 318 (cheating), 319(cheating by personation), 336 (forgery), 337 (forgery of court records, public registers, or government-issued identity documents), 340 (fraudulent use of forged documents or electronic records as genuine) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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Multiple social media accounts
A resident of Assam’s Nagaon district, Ashma flaunted a wide range of ‘titles’ across social media. ThePrint came across two profiles on ‘X’—identifying herself as national secretary, RPI, and sports director, University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM).
On Instagram, she claims to be the director of International Relations at USTM, a department that does not exist on the university’s website.
Sources in the Delhi Police said that Ashma was primarily engaged in liaison work and had prima facie no association with any embassy or diplomatic mission.
During police questioning, she claimed to have been a national secretary-level member of the Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India (Athawale) for four years. There are many pictures available of her with Athawale on her social media accounts.
RPI (A) media in charge Hemant Ranpise confirmed to ThePrint that Ashma Begum was indeed appointed as a national secretary of the party but clarified that she was not actively associated with the party in the recent past. “She was appointed as a secretary in the party at the time around in 2018-19, and a disciplinary call will be taken, and she will be expelled from the party once Athawale will return from overseas,” he told ThePrint.
🚨 BIG BREAKTHROUGH | AEKC, CRIME BRANCH, DELHI POLICE 🚨
👮♀️ Lady arrested using forged foreign embassy number plates on Innova car
🚘 Fake diplomatic plates | 🛂 Impersonation | 🕵️♂️ High-security movement exposed
🔍 Accused was frequently visiting embassies & high-security areas… pic.twitter.com/S3hj7sEh7V
— Crime Branch Delhi Police (@CrimeBranchDP) January 23, 2026
Additionally, Ashma claimed to have worked for a year as a consultant at a foreign embassy in 2023-24, for which she was paid Rs 1.5 lakh per month.
She also claimed to have worked as a sports guide at the USTM, a private university in the North East. “Now she is doing consultancy to foreign students, especially African nationals, for their study in this university and getting fees for student admission,” DCP Yadav said.
The unravelling
Sources in the Delhi Police said that the Crime Branch came across her activities, including the use of an Innova car with a diplomatic number plate, as surveillance was increased to curb misuse of such facilities in security preparations for the Republic Day.
Based on the inputs, the Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Cell of the Crime Branch decided to verify her movements. They tracked her to B block in Vasant Vihar in South West Delhi, where her car was found parked.
“Accordingly, a trap was laid there. At around 3.10 PM, a lady aged about 45 years approached the car and opened it with the keys in her hand. She sat in the driver’s seat and was about to start the car when she was intercepted based on information from an informer. When asked about the vehicle’s ownership documents, she stated it is a diplomatic vehicle but could not produce them,” DCP Yadav said.
Ashma first identified herself as a representative of a foreign embassy but did not disclose the name of that embassy, the statement added.
She was taken to the police station, where she allegedly confessed to using forged number plates of a foreign embassy on the Innova, purchased from a foreign embassy in November 2024.
“She also disclosed that the embassy filed a complaint against her at PS Chanakyapuri for not registering the vehicle in her name. Therefore, she removed the number plates of that embassy and prepared forged number plates, looking like the number plates of the embassy, so that she may avoid being checked at various locations, to have easy access in different embassies and smooth and unchecked movement in the diplomatic area,” DCP Yadav said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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