DEHRADUN: A youngster from Bihar, misled by forged Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) results and a fake selection letter, reached the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie with his parents to begin training as an IAS officer, only to discover he had been duped by cybercriminals.Pushpesh Singh, 28, a resident of Saran district working for a private company in Gurgaon, told police he was contacted by unknown persons claiming to be from UPSC. They conducted a fake online exam, declared him selected, and shared a forged merit list and training schedule on WhatsApp. Convinced, he paid Rs 30,000 to the accused before travelling to Mussoorie with his family.LBSNAA officials stopped Pushpesh at the entrance and alerted Mussoorie police after spotting discrepancies in the documents. A team reached the spot and upon verifying the documents and questioning him, found he had fallen prey to an elaborate scam. The local intelligence unit and Intelligence Bureau were also informed.Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh said, “The documents appeared genuine at first glance, with official stamps and rank listings. Since the fraud occurred while he was in Gurgaon, we registered a zero FIR under BNS section 318(4) (cheating) at the Mussoorie police station. The case has been transferred to Gurgaon police which will now carry out the investigation in the case.”The case follows a pattern of similar cybercrimes targeting civil service aspirants, particularly those from smaller towns. In May 2023, Jharkhand police uncovered a racket offering fake IPS postings for Rs 2 lakh. “Pushpesh holds a degree and had no doubts about the documents. He had no reason to suspect anything was wrong until he was turned away at the gate,” said an officer who is part of the inquiry.
