Impostor in police uniform: series of stalking and sexual exploitation by scammers ends with arrest

A man with a Class 8 pass has sexually exploited and cheated as many as 10 female constables of the UP police in the past five years. He stalked them online and gained fame through social media platforms, posing as a police officer. He got their details from the nominal list available on the UP police website.

The accused recently came into the Bareilly police net on Tuesday when he sexually exploited a woman posted by a cop in Bareilly and was cheated ₹6.30 lakh from her too, and bought a four-wheeler worth ₹28 lakh with her documents.

Bareilly Additional Commissioner of Police (ASP) City, Rahul Bhati, said the accused has been identified as Rajan Verma, 30, a resident of Sadar, Lakhimpur Kheri district. He said the accused was arrested for repeatedly raping the same woman, on the pretext of marriage, posing as a police officer. He said the Bareilly police officer had filed an FIR for rape under sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Senior police officials said the suspect’s social media profile was filled with photos of him in a police uniform worn by officers during their farewell parade. There were also police vehicles and other police personnel following him on the platforms, which quickly convinced people that he was an officer.

They said he even married a woman constable by posing as a police officer working in the office of the Additional Director General (ADG) with the rank of a senior IPS officer in Lucknow.

They said that the accused had defrauded female officers and others on the pretext of transfers and postings through his links while he was posted in the ADG office. Investigations revealed that the accused had acquired huge wealth and had earned more than ₹1.5 crore in gambling. They said the accused even had a high-end SUV, two more four-wheelers and a racing bike.

“The woman constable posted in Bareilly has lodged an FIR for repeated rape under IPC section 376 (2)N and IPC sections 323 for voluntarily causing hurt, 420 for cheating, 467 for forging documents to claim ownership of any property, 468 for using forged documents for cheating, 471 for using forged documents as authentic, and 504 and 506 for insult and criminal intimidation respectively at the city police station on July 13,” Bhati said.

Another police official privy to the matter said Verma first came into contact with a police officer posted with the Special Operation Group (SOG) in Lakhimpur Kheri and learnt all police tactics when he spent time with him in 2019 and 2020. He said he even committed fraud and extortion by posing as a police officer on the instructions of the SOG officer.

“He came in contact with a woman cop and married her, posing as a cop, but separated after two years when she discovered his reality. The couple was also arrested by the Lakhimpur Kheri police on November 15, 2022, in connection with an FIR filed by another woman cop Gayatri Verma for cheating.

The accused’s estranged wife is living separately after being released from jail on bail and still under suspension in the same case. But he continued to commit fraud and stalk other female police officers, especially those with the surname Verma, as they could be easily convinced, thinking that he was from the same caste,” the official said, explaining his modus operandi.

He said Verma’s lavish run continued despite him being arrested twice in Moradabad on April 24, 2021 and Lakhimpur in 2022 as many of his victims did not turn up to file complaints to avoid humiliation. Yet, as many as five criminal cases have been registered against him, including two cases in Lakhimpur Kheri, one each in Moradabad, Shravasti and Bareilly. He said the recent case is from Bareilly, in which he was arrested on Tuesday and sent to jail.