Elderly Man Posing As Retired IPS Officer Exposed In Delhi Fraud Investigation
Anil Katyal was caught after he had tried to help his friend Vinod Kapoor, a businessman, who was charged with fraud at a police station in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram.
An elderly man impersonated a retired IPS officer to interfere in an investigation against his friend which unravelled a web of deceit. The man was using fake credentials to deceive government officials, secure favours, and amass significant wealth.
Anil Katyal, 69, claimed to be a retired IPS officer from the 1979 batch of Manipur cadre. He said that he served in key positions such as the Director General of Police, as an Intelligence Bureau officer and as an advisor to the Union Home Ministry. Sometimes he would also introduce himself as a collegemate of External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.
उक्त सम्बन्ध मे श्री दिनेश कुमार पी, अतिरिक्त पुलिस आयुक्त, कमिश्नरेट गाजियाबाद की बाइट ।@Uppolice https://t.co/NaULWQA0Je pic.twitter.com/27E0AZg9Ut
— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE GHAZIABAD (@ghaziabadpolice) November 21, 2024
Katyal was caught after he had tried to help his friend Vinod Kapoor, a businessman, who was charged with fraud at a police station in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram. Kapoor owns a construction company that completed projects at Delhi airport and Gwalior airbase.
Katyal reached the police station and introduced himself as a retired police IPS officer “who was working for the Ministry of Home Affairs as an advisor”. Katyal told the police that Kapoor had been wrongfully arrested and tried to pressurise the police officer and threatened to sue them.
On Tuesday, Katyal even visited the officer of the Ghaziabad police commissioner to lobby for Kapoor. Katyal people posing as IPS officers to bolster his deception. Suspicion arose when Katyal insisted on taking a photograph with a senior police officer. The police searched online if there were any officers from the 1979 batch, there were no matches and they knew they and apprehended him. The senior officer warned the public against falling prey to such fraudsters, emphasising that no genuine former IAS or IPS officer would resort to threatening people or supporting criminal activities.
As NDTV the police didn’t grill him due to his age, but they went through his bank transactions and phone. The investigation revealed that he duped several senior government officers in Delhi and Gurugram.
Dinesh P, Additional Police Commissioner (ACP) of Ghaziabad, reportedly told the media that Katyal misused his contacts at St. Stephen's and the network he built during his time in corporate affairs to gain influence by name-dropping.
The ACP said he conned officers and people, and that they were investigating his phone and bank details to find out how many people he conned to extort money from them. In one instance, he tried to intervene in the case of Dubai Billionaire Balvinder Singh Sahni who was arrested over massive fraud allegations. For this, Katyal made an appointment with the Ministry of External Affairs, claiming he was Jaishankar’s college senior.
Anil Katyal’s Work
The police said that Katyal is a of St Stephen's College where he studied chemistry. He did appear for the UPSC examinations but failed the exams, following which he got into Yale University in the US for a doctorate but dropped out. Katyal worked as a senior executive in Hindustan Lever, Yamaha and then Vodafone. Katyal retired as a vice president of corporate affairs from Vodafone.
When Katyal was questioned by the media after his arrest, he said, "Don't trouble me. I have answered many people. I have done enough in life." Asked if he was an IPS officer, he said, "I don't know what I am," according to NDTV.