Suspended army sniper dupes Delhi lawyer, her family of Rs 15 lakh

NEW DELHI: A former Indian Army sniper, suspended in 2023, was arrested for posing as a lieutenant colonel and allegedly duping a 30-year-old advocate and her family of Rs 15 lakh. The accused, Sumit Singh, used fake army documents, fraudulent offer letters, and even a military uniform to deceive the victims.
According to police, the victim, a practising advocate at Tis Hazari Court, met Singh outside the court on July 24, 2024. He introduced himself as a lieutenant colonel and claimed to be running a direct recruitment drive for government advocates at the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).

"Believing his credentials, the woman shared her details with him. Singh then promised her a secure legal position in the military judiciary. Initially, he asked for small amounts, like Rs 2,680 as an application fee, but his demands grew under various pretexts, including mess expenses, uniform charges, and other formalities," said DCP (north) Raja Banthia.
Singh expanded his deception, convincing the victim's family that he could secure a job for her brother as a head clerk in the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA), police said. He provided fake offer letters and demanded additional payments, including a Rs 5 lakh ‘donation' for the job. Singh fabricated a story about his father's death, persuading the victim to provide Rs 79,000 worth of gold and silver jewellery for the last rites. He also convinced her to buy him a high-end phone worth Rs 1.6 lakh, claiming his own was destroyed in a bomb blast.
Between Aug and Oct 2024, the victim and her family transferred multiple sums to Singh, totalling Rs 15 lakh. In addition to the financial scam, Singh emotionally manipulated the victim, pressuring her for marriage, police said.
When the woman realised she had been deceived, she reported the matter to Gulabi Bagh police station. A case was registered, and a team was formed to track Singh. Through technical and manual surveillance, police traced him to a rented accommodation in Bindapur, where he was arrested.
"During interrogation, Singh confessed that he joined the Indian Army as a sniper in 2015 but was suspended in April 2023 after being arrested in a separate criminal case involving rape and fraud in Lucknow. Facing financial difficulties, he began duping people with fake job offers, first in Uttar Pradesh and then in Delhi," said a senior police officer.
Further investigation revealed that Singh had used the same method to cheat multiple victims in the past. Police identified at least two prior cases against him, one in Lucknow and another in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh.
Authorities recovered several items from Singh, including the phone he bought with the victim's money, two fake rubber stamps of the Indian Army, a military uniform, four lieutenant colonel rank badges, a wristwatch, and a canteen card he used to mislead victims. They also recovered three fake offer letters from the Indian Army and a bike purchased with the cheated money.
A case has been registered against Singh, and further investigation is underway to identify more victims.