Vadodara: Anand Town police have arrested a man who posed as an IAS officer, used forged govt identity cards and circulated fake news reports portraying himself as a senior govt official. He allegedly cheated a man of Rs 7.70 lakh on the promise of securing him a govt job.The accused, Ronak Sudhir Christian, a resident of Gamdi in Anand, introduced himself as an IAS officer and deputy collector-cum-sub-divisional magistrate in Gandhinagar, despite not holding the post.Police said Christian used a fabricated govt identity card bearing his photograph and details to convince people that he was a govt official.According to a complaint filed by Niraj Bhupendersinh Patel, who owns a photocopy shop in Anand, Christian frequently visited his shop and claimed to be an IAS officer. He showed Patel a forged identity card and promised to secure him direct recruitment as a deputy mamlatdar.Christian collected Rs 7.70 lakh in cash from Patel, along with another person identified in the complaint as Saunak. However, the promised job did not materialise and the accused allegedly failed to return the money, police said.A case was registered at Anand Town police station.Police said Christian had gone beyond using forged documents to establish his identity and had created an elaborate official persona for himself.“The accused circulated fake newspaper clippings. One such report portrayed him as ‘Assistant Collector Ronak Christian IAS’ visiting Sector 12 police station and a PM Shri school in Gandhinagar. The fake reports described him as reviewing police functioning and school facilities, thereby creating an impression that he was an actual govt officer,” said J S Kandoriya, police inspector, Anand Town police station.Kandoriya said the surveillance squad was directed to trace Christian following the complaint.The arrest came after Anand police received information about people impersonating govt officials and extracting money from citizens on various pretexts. Senior police officers subsequently directed local units to identify such individuals and initiate legal action.Police have seized a laptop, mobile phone, printer, forged identity cards, a stamp and other forged documents from Christian.One of the seized identity cards identifies him as joint secretary, ministry of home affairs, police added.
