He duped youth on the pretext of getting them recruited in the Army, cops said. (Representational)
A former Army soldier, allegedly masquerading as a lieutenant colonel, was arrested from Fatehgarh Sahib on Friday for duping unemployed youth on the pretext of getting them recruited in the armed forces, the police said.
The Police said they recovered fake documents, various fake ID cards, a sword of the Army, badges, fake number plates with Army insignia, a .32 bore pistol, air rifle, cartridges, army uniforms, a laptop, documents related to the Indian Army and fake certificates from his possession.
Fatehgarh Sahib SSP Amneet Kondal said that police had got a tip-off that a person named Sobhraj Singh alias Shive, a resident of Ludhiana, who had served in the Army as a constable was masquerading as a lieutenant colonel.
Ms Kondal said the accused and two of his accomplices had formed a gang to dupe unemployed youth on the pretext of getting them recruited in the Army and extracted huge amounts of money from them.
Police personnel intercepted a car with Army insignia near Floating Restaurant at Sirhind, the official said.
The accused was in an Army uniform, but he could not show any ID card or document to prove his identity. When the vehicle was searched by the police, they recovered various fake documents, uniforms, she said.
The SSP said that during preliminary investigation Singh revealed his identity and said that he was recruited in the Army in 2003 as a constable and took retirement on medical grounds in 2014.
She said the accused admitted of the crime.
The SSP said the accused revealed that at present he was staying with his friend at Mandi Gobindgarh, near Fatehgarh Sahib, after which the police raided the house and recovered 10 fake stamps, letterheads, Army uniforms, police badges, belt, and fake documents of the Army.
The senior IPS officer said the accused has taken separate loans of Rs 18 lakh and Rs 10 lakh from two private banks in Ludhiana by furnishing fake documents and impersonating as a lieutenant colonel.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the law and further investigations were on, she said, adding that the other accomplices of the accused will also be arrested soon.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)