Delhi: Man poses as IAS officer & invites tenders for govt scheme, arrested

The three accused began plotting the fraud by first creating a fake website under the domain name Rashtriya Gramin Saksharta Mission (RGSM), police said. Then, they opened a trust in the name of RGSM, with Anita listed as a signatory, officers added.

“The accused created a trust and a fake website resembling a government scheme, Rashtriya Gramin Saksharta Mission. They fabricated letterheads bearing the phrase ‘a Govt of India undertaking’ and posed as IAS officers to deceive prospective victims,” said Additional CP, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Amrutha Gugoloth.

To establish credibility, the accused published newspaper advertisements inviting tenders for RGSM initiatives, calling upon vendors to submit catalogues of school uniforms for underprivileged children, police said.

Prospective vendors would then contact the accused. Saurabh Singh would then impersonate an IAS officer and conduct meetings, officers added.

Saurabh would demand a commission for awarding the tenders, and the money would be deposited into the bank account of the fake RGSM trust. Vendors subsequently began supplying uniforms to the accused, police said.

“They executed agreements with vendors for the supply of goods meant for distribution among underprivileged school children. However, after receiving the supplies, no payments were made. Investigation revealed that the accused had also induced vendors to pay large sums as ‘Earnest Money’, commission fees, and stamp paper charges,” Additional CP Guguloth said.

The case came to light when the accused demanded their largest commission yet —Rs 2 crore—from a Delhi-based vendor for the allotment of a tender, police said.

“A complaint was received against Ratnakar, Anita, and Saurabh which stated that after delivering school uniforms, the accused failed to make the payment.The accused persons also induced the complainant to pay approximately Rs 2 crore as commission for the allotment of tender” Gugoloth added.

Based on the complaint, Ratnakar and Anita were arrested on July 16, police said.

According to the police, Saurabh, the main accused, remained at large despite raids on his residence in Dwarka and other locations.

“Raids were conducted in Triveni Nagar (Lucknow), Jaunpur (UP), and village Kashipur Ghonda (UP). Several call detail records (CDRs) were analyzed, and information was gathered from utility apps. Based on technical surveillance, Saurabh was arrested on September 15 in Lucknow,” Gugoloth said.

According to the police, the RGSM trust had four cases registered against it in multiple states, including Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. Saurabh had two prior cases, including one under the Gangster Act, while Ratnakar had 12 cases, one involving sexual assault, police said.