Patna: A man who allegedly posed as an IAS officer for years – travelling with armed guards, flashing red-and-blue beacons and claiming authority over multiple districts – has been arrested in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Police say the suspect, identified as Gaurav Kumar Singh, also known as Lalit Kishore, built a sprawling fraud network across four states, duped dozens of people and even assaulted a real government official while impersonating a senior bureaucrat.
Singh, originally from Sitamarhi in Bihar, is accused of maintaining an extravagant lifestyle to bolster his false identity, reportedly spending around Rs 5 lakh a month on convoys, security staff and forged paperwork. According to investigators, a group of 10–15 people routinely accompanied him to create the appearance of official protocol.
Assault on real SDM went unreported
Police say Singh once confronted a Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Bhagalpur, Bihar, who had questioned his identity during a village visit. Singh allegedly slapped the official twice. Despite the seriousness of the incident, no complaint was filed at the time.
His arrest followed months of surveillance by Gorakhpur police and the local intelligence unit, who traced him to a rented house where he had been living under the name “IAS Gaurav Kumar”. Officers recovered two mobile phones containing messages with four women. Investigators say three of the women were pregnant and believed Singh to be a genuine IAS officer. Singh is also married.
Fraud built on AI-generated documents
According to police, Singh worked with his brother-in-law, Abhishek Kumar, a software engineer from Sitamarhi, to create fake IDs, forged tender documents and fabricated newspaper clippings using AI. These materials depicted Singh conducting official inspections and chairing meetings with district officials. A third associate, Parmanand Gupta, is alleged to have helped expand the network into Uttar Pradesh.
Investigators believe the trio used these documents to lure contractors and builders with promises of government tenders and postings. One contractor from Patna told officers he paid Singh more than Rs 5 crore, as well as two Innova cars and jewellery, after being promised a Rs 450 crore tender.
In a separate case, GRP personnel in Gorakhpur seized Rs 99.90 lakh in cash from a man travelling on the Vaishali Express in November. Police say the money was linked to bribes collected on Singh’s behalf.
From coaching centre owner to serial fraudster
Singh’s alleged fraudulent activities began shortly after he completed an MSc in Mathematics in 2019. In 2022, he opened the “Aditya Super-50” coaching centre in Sitamarhi, where he is accused of taking Rs 2 lakh from a student in exchange for a job offer that never materialised. An FIR was filed against him, and Singh later told police this incident derailed his career, prompting him to go underground and re-emerge as a fake civil servant.
While evading the earlier case, he reportedly eloped with a woman from Bihar and married her in a temple. Investigators say he then began extracting money from people by posing as an IAS officer and offering jobs and contracts.
Network spanned four states
Police estimate that more than 40 people across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh were defrauded. Officers were first alerted after a contractor submitted an AI-generated government tender, supposedly authorised by “IAS Lalit”, for which no corresponding officer existed in official records.
SP City Abhinav Tyagi said the case involves “a large and organised network”, adding that further arrests are likely. Police teams in three states have been contacted as the investigation expands.
