The Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday said that a man from Rajasthan who was arrested for cheating two families -one in Ghaziabad and another in Uttarakhand- posing as their long-lost son, duped at least seven more families in six states by telling the same story.
According to a PTI report, police have identified two families among them and are investigating more details about other cheated families.
Police said the accused named Indraraj Rawat, duped nine families from Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Nimish Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (trans-Hindon), said the accused cheated three families in Uttar Pradesh alone.
Rawat has been charged under various sections related to impersonation, cheating, and house trespassing.
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“Rawat had lived with at least nine families over the years, convincing them with a fabricated story of being a long-lost son who had been kidnapped as a child. Police have identified four such families, and investigations are ongoing to find out five other families he may have similarly deceived,” police said.
How was he caught?
On November 24, Rawat approached Khoda police station, claiming that he was kidnapped 31 years ago at the age of seven. The accused claimed that three men on a tempo abducted him while he was walking home from school with his sister in Sahibabad’s Shaheed Nagar Colony.
Rawat also fabricated a story that he was taken to Jaisalmer and forced to work as a shepherd, enduring physical abuse by his masters. A Delhi-based businessman rescued him and left him at the state’s border in Ghaziabad, the accused told police.
Police helped Rawat trace his “missing” kins, and a local family, the Tularams, accepted the accused, who believed him to be their missing son.
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Suspicious of the accused’s version of the story, police launched an investigation into his background and found that his real name is Indraraj Rawat, who has a history of criminal activity.
“In 2021, Rawat had stayed with a family in Rawatsar, Rajasthan, pretending to be a distant relative before stealing from them and fleeing. He was later arrested, but after serving a short jail sentence and being released on bail, he continued with his method of deception,” the DCP said.
“In 2023, the accused lived with a family in Sikar, Rajasthan, where he assumed the identity of their missing son, Pankaj. He later moved to Dehradun, where he spent four months with another family, claiming to be their son, Monu,” he added.
Repeating the same story, Rawat duped families in Punjab’s Bhatinda, Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer, and Haryana’s Sirsa.
“Rawat’s modus operandi involved using emotionally charged, fabricated stories to win the sympathy and trust of families, often those who had missing children, making his deceptions more convincing,” the police officer explained.
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“Once accepted into these homes, he would live a comfortable life, free from the need to work, while secretly stealing valuable goods from his hosts before disappearing when he felt his secret might be exposed,” said the DCP.
Conman’s past
Police investigation revealed that Rawat was a serial thief who was abandoned by his family in 2005.
Repeated complaints of petty theft pissed off his family that they decided to abandon him, police said. The accused lived with a relative for a few months before he started to dupe several families starting in 2021.
The conman has been arrested and lodged in judicial custody. Police are investigating to piece together his full criminal history, including his movements and activities from 2005 to 2021. Police are also investigating whether additional families fell victim to his fabricated emotional story.
(With PTI inputs)
