Chandigarh/Patiala, June 1— A 77-year-old man who had been absconding for over a decade after jumping bail in a 2007 cheating case was arrested by Delhi Police from an old-age home in Patiala, Punjab.
The accused, Sitaram Gupta, a native of Mansa, Punjab, was impersonating an Indian Army Colonel and duped several people by offering flats and shops under fictitious Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) schemes, police said in a statement on Sunday.
Gupta, who holds postgraduate degrees in Economics and History from Panjab University and once studied under former PM Manmohan Singh, was declared a proclaimed offender by Delhi’s Karkardooma Court on April 26 this year.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Apoorva Gupta, the accused cheated a complainant of ₹56,000 in 2007 after offering him a flat and shop, issuing forged receipts. After being arrested that year and released on bail, he vanished and never appeared in court again, prompting non-bailable warrants.
Gupta had previously worked as a contractor supplying oil to Army cantonments, gaining insider knowledge of the Army’s structure and systems. In 1987, he moved to Delhi and began posing as a Colonel, conning people with fake job offers and real estate deals.
A special police team tracked him down based on a tip-off. Gupta had been living under a false identity in a shelter in Patiala, where he had changed his appearance, cut off contact with his family, and used multiple mobile numbers to stay hidden. Police confirmed his identity through surveillance before making the arrest.
During interrogation, Gupta confessed to multiple cheating cases, including three others registered at Shakarpur police station and the Delhi Crime Branch, all related to fake Army recruitment offers.
Gupta’s wife is deceased, and he has two children. For the past 17 years, he had been leading a secluded, nomadic life to avoid capture.
