Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 23 (HBTV): The Noida unit of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has busted an illegal embassy operating out of a rented house in Kavinagar, Ghaziabad, and arrested a man posing as a diplomat, the state's Additional Director General (ADG) of Police, Law and Order, said on Tuesday.

According to the ADG, the accused, identified as Harsh Vardhan Jain, had been operating what he claimed was the ‘West Arctic Embassy’. He also posed as a Consul or Ambassador of fictitious nations such as West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia, and travelled in vehicles bearing fake diplomatic number plates.

The STF seized substantial evidence during the operation, including four vehicles with fake diplomatic plates, 12 diplomatic passports purportedly from micronations, two forged PAN cards, forged documents with seals of the Ministry of External Affairs, 34 seals of various countries and companies, two fake press cards, INR 44,70,000 in cash, and foreign currency from multiple countries. Documents linked to several companies were also recovered.

Senior Superintendent of Police, STF, Sushil Ghule, stated that Jain had been misleading individuals by promising them jobs abroad and used shell companies to run a hawala racket. He also used morphed photographs with well-known dignitaries to bolster his claims.

‘He used to introduce himself as the Ambassador of nations like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia. Some of the vehicles seized bore unauthorised diplomatic plates. He had previously been arrested in 2011, during which a satellite phone was recovered from him. This time, 12 passports have also been seized,’ said SSP Ghule.

(ANI)