New Delhi: The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has arrested a 77-year-old fraudster for impersonating a Colonel of the Indian Army. An anonymous source tipped the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police about the criminal. The accused has been identified as Sitaram Gupta alias Sitaram Singla (77) resident of Mandi Dabwali, Sirsa, Haryana. According to the police, the accused Gupta was wanted for multiple cheating and forgery cases related to impersonation and fraud dating back to 2007.
He was evading trial after jumping bail in a Delhi case involving the fraudulent offering of flats and shops under the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) scheme. Gupta, originally from Mansa, Punjab, was arrested following a multi-state manhunt that involved detailed surveillance, intelligence gathering, and field operations led by Inspectors Mangesh Tyagi and Robin Tyagi, under the supervision of ACP Arvind Kumar of the ARSC Crime Branch. The arrest marks a major milestone in the Crime Branch’s efforts to capture long-absconding offenders and bring them to justice. The case originated from an FIR registered at Vivek Vihar Police Station in Delhi in 2007 after a bank employee, Anil Nigam, accused Gupta of impersonating a Colonel in the Indian Army. Gupta promised Nigam a flat and a shop under the AWHO scheme in Delhi and collected Rs 56,000 as earnest money, issuing fraudulent receipts. Suspicious of the deal, Nigam lodged a police complaint that led to Gupta’s arrest and subsequent release on bail. However, Gupta failed to appear for trial, prompting the court to issue non-bailable warrants and eventually proclaim him an offender under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code. After jumping bail, Gupta adopted a false identity and went into hiding, living in an old-age home in Patiala to evade detection. The ARSC team, receiving credible secret information in late May 2025, traced and arrested him using a combination of technical surveillance and human intelligence. Gupta’s arrest was carried out by a dedicated unit comprising ASI Sanjeev, ASI Neeraj, HC Mintu Yadav, and HC Sawai.