Lucknow Police have arrested a man posing as a senior IAS officer, who was allegedly involved in duping people while enjoying a lavish lifestyle. The accused moved around the city in a fleet of luxury cars and also lived in a high-end apartment in a posh locality of Lucknow. His vehicles carried passes for the Uttar Pradesh Secretariat, Assembly, and Legislative Council and were fitted with red and blue beacons.
The arrest was made on Wednesday night during a routine vehicle check in the Wazirganj area. Police stopped a Fortuner Legender SUV with a blue beacon. The man inside identified himself as “Saurabh Tripathi,” claiming to be a senior IAS officer. Initially, police personnel stepped back, but suspicion by the Wazirganj Inspector led to a thorough search of the vehicle. Inside, officers found two flasher lights, raising doubts about his identity.
During questioning, Tripathi tried to intimidate the police by name-dropping several senior IAS officers. A search revealed eight bank cards under different names. Verification of the SUV’s documents showed that it was registered under the name of a person called Jaideep. A laptop recovered from the vehicle also contained an NIC email ID of the Government of India.
Further investigation uncovered that Tripathi had previously been selected as a Joint Director at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC). It was through this position that he obtained the official gov.in email ID, which he later misused to send recommendation emails to district officials, posing as a senior bureaucrat.
Police raids at his apartment in Gomti Nagar Extension led to the seizure of six luxury cars, including three Toyota Innova Crystas, a Fortuner Legender, a Range Rover Defender, and a Mercedes. All vehicles have been impounded, and their documents are under scrutiny. Authorities are also investigating how he managed to acquire official secretariat passes.
