Key Points:
Two men from Haryana, Choudhury Rinku Saini and Maninder Singh, impersonated government officials of a non-existent body.
The Odisha Police discovered the fraud after the duo submitted a detailed list of demands for a visit.
This is not the first high-level impersonation fraud — previously, Kiran Patel posed as a PMO official.
In a shocking fraud in Haryana, two men posed as government officials, duping people into believing they held official authority. They were arrested by the Bhubaneswar Police on October 5, 2025, for committing fraud.
The case came to light when the duo presented the Odisha Police with a detailed list of their demands — including a police escort, protection, and a pilot vehicle — for an event. The truth was uncovered after a thorough background check on the two fraudsters.
The men were identified as Choudhury Rinku Saini (36) from the Karnal district, Haryana, and Maninder Singh (39) from Sonipat, Haryana. Their case — from misleading people by impersonating government officials to their arrest caused by their own actions — is quite unusual.
Saini and Singh were caught in their own web of deceit when they attempted to defraud the Odisha police. They claimed to be representatives of a government body that doesn’t actually exist — the Social Justice and Women Empowerment Commission. This raised suspicion, and the investigation confirmed that the duo had no connection with any statutory government commission.
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Police Commissioner S. Dev Datta Singh stated that one of the men posed as the national chairman, while the other acted as his personal assistant. He said, “Saini posed as the national chairman of the non-existent Social Justice and Women Empowerment Commission, while Singh acted as his personal assistant.” In addition to impersonation, both men were arrested on charges of cheating and forgery.
Saini and Singh had been involved in this impersonation offence for a long time. Although their run did not last long, the duo were arrested after getting caught in their own con scheme.
According to reports, the Odisha Police received a letter from Saini and Singh in which they listed their demands for a visit to Odisha on October 3 and 4. The letter detailed the entire itinerary that the hoax chairman of the Social Justice and Women Empowerment Commission, Choudhury Rinku Saini, would require during his visit.
In the letter, the arrival details of Saini and his assistant were mentioned. It stated that Saini would arrive at the Biju Patnaik International Airport on October 3, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. and would require a police escort for his arrival. He would also visit the Lingaraj, Mukteswar, and Rajarani temples, and stay at a luxurious five-star hotel. The list of requirements ended with his departure details from Bhubaneswar at 1:20 p.m. on October 4, 2025.
Commissioner Datta Singh explained, “The letter raised suspicions due to Saini's claim of being the national chairman of the Social Justice and Women Empowerment Commission under the Ministry of Home Affairs — a commission that does not exist under either the MHA or the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.”
The Odisha Police reportedly checked with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and the investigation unearthed a shocking fact — there was no letter issued by the MHA under the names Choudhury Rinku Saini and Maninder Singh. The police commissioner also disclosed that the modus operandi behind the scam was under investigation.
He stated that the accused and his accomplice had forged several documents. They reportedly had fake MHA letterheads, which also had the Ashok Stambh inscribed on them, and visiting cards allegedly used for deception. Their con was successful while it lasted — they were reportedly provided with escort vehicles, pilot vehicles, visiting cards, and other facilities.
On Saini’s X (formerly Twitter) account, which has 7,000 followers, he had shared pictures of himself with BJP members to show his affiliation with the party. In several posts on his X account, he had tagged the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Saini had also shared videos on his social media platforms featuring several politicians, including Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution B. L. Verma. He had also shared a picture with the current Chief Minister of Haryana, Nayab Singh Saini.
However, this is not the first instance of a high-level impersonation con. In another case, the Srinagar office of the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against Kiran Patel, a conman who posed as an official from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) — and was successful in doing so.
He attempted the fraud in order to receive security cover from the Jammu and Kashmir administration. According to an official statement, Patel conned several businessmen from Gujarat by promising them business opportunities in Kashmir.
He pretended to be an Additional Director in the PMO and allegedly used bogus visiting cards to dupe people and make money through fraud. Patel was arrested by the J&K Police on March 3, 2023.
Incidents like the Saini-Singh impersonation case are not isolated events in India. They reveal not only the cunning of fraudsters who exploit gaps in the system but also the vulnerabilities in administrative verification — from fake commissions to forged documents and social media manipulation, where individuals showcase their political associations to deceive people. These scams demonstrate how criminals can temporarily mislead both authorities and the public.
[Rh/VS]
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