Fake IAS officer held in Bihar, full self-driving Tesla, luxury items seized

Khagaria, Aug 10 (PTI) A man posing as an IAS officer and claiming to have links with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was arrested in Bihar’s Khagaria district, police said on Monday.

Police recovered a Tesla car, an SUV, over 31 litres of imported liquor, and other luxury items from his residence, officials said.

The accused, identified as Manish Gupta, a resident of Jamalpur within Gogri police station area, had allegedly been posing as a senior government official and running fraudulent operations in different parts of Bihar, Khagaria SP Bhanu Pratap Singh told reporters.

Acting on a tip-off, police raided Gupta's premises and arrested him on Sunday, Singh said.

"During interrogation, Gupta showed a card of the Central Vigilance Commission and claimed that he worked as an undercover agent under National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. He also showed an identity card mentioning him to be an IAS officer. Preliminary investigation showed that all these claims were fake," the SP added.

Police recovered over 31 litres of imported foreign liquor, large quantities of beer, a Tesla car with the FSD feature bearing a ‘Government of India’ board, a Tata Safari, five iPhones, 20 credit cards, eight debit cards, four cheque-books and other articles from his residence.

"The Tesla car with full self-driving technology feature is a rarity in India. We also recovered two horns of a barasingha (swamp deer), possession of which is punishable under the Wildlife Protection Act," Singh said.

Police are examining Gupta’s assets and properties with the assistance of specialised agencies, including the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police, the SP said.

"The assets he acquired were through fraud, deception, or corruption," Singh said.

A large-scale investigation would be conducted into the alleged fraud, impersonation and the source of Gupta's assets, he said. PTI