Impostor 'cop' who sought to befriend, cheat women police officers arrested from Delhi airport

Police said they booked Kumar on charges of impersonation and cheating. However, they refused to share more details on the cheating charges.

A 23-year-old man from Alwar in Rajasthan tricked his family and friends into believing that he cracked Delhi Police recruitment exams, forged an appointment letter and an ID card of the 2024 batch, shifted to a relative’s house in Rohini and purchased a fake police uniform — all to befriend women Delhi Police personnel and cheat them. The accused, Sahil Kumar, was arrested at the airport on Monday, when he was on his way to meet a woman cop he had befriended through social media.

The police said that further interrogation of Kumar led to the recovery of a forged appointment letter. (Hindustan Times)

The woman constable also confirmed that he befriended her through social media, claimed to be a police sub-inspector and asked her to meet him at the airport, additional commissioner of police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani said on Wednesday.

“Kumar disclosed that he had fabricated his identity to mislead female acquaintances and his social circle, and make them believe that he had been appointed as a sub-inspector in the Delhi Police. His interrogation revealed that he had befriended nearly 15 women using the modus operandi in the past year. At least five of them were constables and head constables in the police force,” Rangnani said.

Police said they booked Kumar on charges of impersonation and cheating. However, they refused to share more details on the cheating charges.

Rangnani said that around 3.30pm on Monday, the vigilance unit of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) intercepted and detained Kumar at the departure forecourt of Terminal-3 on suspicion of impersonating a Delhi Police officer.

“At the time of the detention, Kumar was wearing a white T-shirt bearing the logo of the Delhi Police. He was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding his current posting in the Delhi Police and offered vague and unconvincing excuses. He was also found in possession of a Delhi Police identity card, which appeared to be forged. A case of cheating and impersonating a public servant was registered, and Kumar was arrested,” she said.

The police said that further interrogation of Kumar led to the recovery of a forged appointment letter, a handbag containing some blank case diaries, one blank page having stamp marks of DPA (Delhi Police Academy), a mobile phone containing photographs in Delhi Police uniform, and a police uniform that he purchased from Camp area.

“After completing his Class 12, Kumar was preparing for competitive exams. He created social media accounts using his fake credentials and posted photographs, where he posed as a Delhi Police staff member. One of his social media accounts has over 10,000 followers. He even posted a photograph in which he is seen celebrating with his family members the achievement of crossing the 10K followers mark,” an officer aware of the case said.