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MP conman who posed as officer to dupe women told his family too he was IRS officer: Police
Sarvesh Kumawat was arrested from a Jaipur hotel on Sunday following a complaint by a woman who said he had claimed to be an NCB officer
BHOPAL: A 29-year-old man arrested in Rajasthan for allegedly posing as a government officer in an attempt to con women had told his family in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain too that he was an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer.
Sarvesh Kumawat was arrested from a Jaipur hotel on Sunday following a complaint by a woman who said he had claimed to be an officer of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). But she figured he was a con man after she checked with the NCB.
Sarvesh’s brother Niranjan Kumawat said Sarvesh had studied for the civil services examination and told them that he had aced the exam. “Sarvesh told us that he became an IRS officer in 2020 and was posted in Delhi as an income tax officer,” said Niranjan who stays in Ujjain.
“He hardly ever came home and never gave us a single penny. The family and the villagers used to feel proud of him for achieving this success. But now we are told that he became a criminal, not an IRS officer. We are in shock and don’t know how to deal with it.”
Niranjan added that Sarvesh first moved to Ujjain from their Jharda village in 2019 to prepare for the civil services exam. He got a fee waiver as a below-poverty-line (BPL) student. After four months, he moved to Delhi to prepare for the prestigious civil services exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.
Police said Sarvesh would be brought to Ujjain on Wednesday by Rajasthan police as part of its continuing investigation into the case.
Rakesh Khyalia, station house officer of Vidhyadhar Nagar police station in Jaipur, said Sarvesh was arrested when he came to Jaipur to meet a woman officer who reached out to NCB to cross-check his claims and found that he was a fraud.
On his communication devices, police found evidence of chats with 25 other women including 21 government officials. The conversation in some of the chats was explicit and private.
Khyalia said Sarvesh identified his potential victims via social media and befriended the women. After gaining their trust, he would spin some story about how his assets had been frozen to some issue and seek loans to deal with his expenses.
Investigators believe that they have found material to suggest that he had duped about 25 of ₹50 lakh. A more accurate estimate would be possible only after scrutinising his bank accounts, the officer said, hoping that the women would come forward to press charges against them.
“Many of the victims are women officers holding senior positions so they are not willing to file complaints but we are trying to convince them,” the officer added.
