Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Special Task Force (STF) has arrested two people for allegedly duping businessmen, contractors and public servants by claiming to be working with the UP Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
According to a statement issued by the STF, one of the accused, identified as Ramshankar Gupta, would pretend to be either a security officer of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, or an Indian Administrative Service/Provincial Civil Service officer serving as special secretary (investment) in the government.
He allegedly used a pseudonym, “Ashish Gupta”, and also portrayed himself as “vice-chancellor of the Socrates Social Research University (SSRU) in Delhi”.
The other accused, identified as Arvind Tripathi alias “Yoga Guruji”, would facilitate Gupta’s meetings with contractors and influential persons, the statement says. He has posted several pictures on his Facebook account that show him with politicians such as Goa CM Pramod Sawant and former President Ram Nath Kovind.
The STF statement says the accused demanded money from owners of big companies/contractors and administrative/police officers on the pretext of helping them get tenders and transfers/postings, respectively.
They (accused) would mostly take money in cash or in an account that had been opened under the name “Ashish Gupta”, it adds.
Five mobile phones and 14 identity cards — including those for “protocol officer of UP CM”, “vice-chancellor” of Socrates university and member of “Delhi High Court Bar Association” — have been recovered from the accused, along with two letter pads, for special secretary (investment) in UP government, and V-C of Socrates university, the statement says, adding that 18 visiting cards of Socrates university were recovered as well.
“After the arrest, accused Ramshankar informed that he is not working in any government department nor is he the V-C of Socrates university. He has got Aadhaar cards forged under two separate names and was using the pseudonym ‘Ashish Gupta’ to pull off the fraud,” the statement says.
According to the STF, Gupta and Tripathi were arrested from Bans Mandi road in Lucknow’s Vipul Khand area Sunday.
An FIR has been lodged against the duo under Indian Penal Code sections 170 (pretending to hold a particular office as public servant), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy).
Reached for comment, the Socrates university claimed to be an NGO and sought to distance itself from Gupta, who is listed on its website as “vice-chairman” under his pseudonym.
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How they ‘duped people’
Speaking to ThePrint, an STF officer said that while the force had been tracking the first accused as “Ashish Gupta”, it was only after arrest that his real identity was revealed.
“In order to make people believe that he was indeed a government officer, he would make a youngster wearing a uniform of the Prantiya Rakshak Dal sit on the front seat of his car. He has also pasted a logo of the UP government on the car,” the officer said.
According to the STF statement, Tripathi has “contacts with big politicians and officials and holds camps or ‘shivir’ related to yoga where big contractors and politicians would be in attendance”.
“Tripathi would influence them by his yoga teachings and offer to help them get big tenders from the UP government, which would lead the contractors to request him to help in the tender process, (then) he would introduce them to Ramshankar,” the STF statement says.
According to the STF, Tripathi has studied till Class 12, but often introduced himself as a “Delhi High Court lawyer”.
Asked about Tripathi’s social media photos with high-profile politicians, UP STF Deputy Superintendent of Police Vishal Vikram Singh said the accused would flaunt connections with politicians and bureaucrats.
“They have been active for almost five years. The money trail is being ascertained. So far, we have unearthed three-four bank accounts being operated by the accused,” he said.
The STF says the duo had other associates whom they identified as “secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office”, and they would all divide the money among themselves.
Gupta, according to the STF, claimed that “he had helped many people get fake PhD (honorary PhDs) degrees in collusion with the chairman of Socrates Social Research University”.
“So far, he has duped around 100 students on the pretext of facilitating them in getting training with Hindustan Scouts & Guides Association [taking Rs 7,500 from each of them], and trapping them by claiming to help them get a job,” the STF statement says.
The website for SSRU appears to project it as an educational institute, but Suresh Kain, a member of its “welfare committee”, told ThePrint that it is not a university but an NGO “registered with the Delhi government and the NITI Aayog”.
When this reporter sought to be connected with SSRU chairman Yogesh Kumar, Kain said he was hospitalised and claimed to have been authorised by the former to speak for the organisation.
“The SSRU only provides honorary degrees to persons who have extended 20 years of service to society. The UGC does not have any objection to organisations giving honorary doctorates and there are no rules for handing over honorary degrees,” he added.
“Since this matter has come to light, we have removed Ashish Gupta’s name from our website as vice-chairman, our legal team is looking at the matter and we are soon getting an advertisement published in newspapers saying that he has no association with our organisation.”
Kain said Gupta had “attended several programmes organised by SSRU… where he identified himself as an IAS officer and the protocol officer of the UP CM and would say that he can be contacted for any work connected with the government”.
“He would bring IAS officers along with him,” Kain added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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