Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Task Force has uncovered a fake embassy operating out of Ghaziabad and detained a man claiming to be a diplomat of a non-existent country called “West Arctica,” according to a senior official on Wednesday.
The suspect, Harsh Vardhan Jain, a resident of Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad, was arrested on Tuesday. The STF’s Noida unit revealed that initial investigations show Jain was involved in brokering deals by falsely promising job placements in foreign countries for both companies and individuals.
He is also believed to be running a hawala racket through shell companies. Jain allegedly used manipulated photos showing him with prominent leaders, including the Prime Minister and President, to deceive people.
Additional Director General of Police Amitabh Yash stated that Jain managed the bogus embassy from a rented property, presenting himself as the consul or ambassador of fake nations like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia. He traveled in vehicles with counterfeit diplomatic plates.
During questioning, it was found that Jain had associations with controversial figures such as godman Chandraswami and international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. In 2011, he was booked in a case involving the recovery of an illegal satellite phone.
Following his arrest, authorities recovered four vehicles with fake diplomatic registration, 12 forged diplomatic passports from micronations, fake documents bearing the seal of the Ministry of External Affairs, two counterfeit PAN cards, 34 rubber stamps of various countries and companies, and two fake press cards.
The raid also yielded ₹44.7 lakh in cash, foreign currencies, documents related to multiple companies, and 18 additional fake diplomatic plates.
An FIR has been lodged at the Kavi Nagar police station, and investigations are ongoing.