Two female IAS officers were infatuated with Harikesh Pandey. The accused was driving a luxury car…

UP News: Hardoi police arrested Harikesh Pandey who duped two female IAS officers on the pretext of marriage…

Hardoi. Hardoi Police has arrested a cunning thug who was duping women officers on matrimonial sites by pretending to be an IAS officer and promising to marry them. Accused Harikesh Pandey created a fake profile in the name of his handicapped brother Mukesh Kumar Pandey. He contacted women officers by pretending to be the Joint Magistrate of Hardoi. Investigation revealed that the accused had prepared fake appointment letters, PAN cards and bank passbooks. On February 11, 2024, he contacted a victim and got Rs 1 lakh in cash and Rs 1.23 lakh transferred online on the pretext of not getting a new appointment and salary. After this, he made up a false story of transfer from Hardoi to Kasganj.

The accused has been identified as Harikesh Pandey. He is a resident of Bhagwanpur Mufarid village of Pratapgarh district. The accused used to cheat female officers by pretending to be an IAS officer and promising them marriage. Police say that the accused created a fake profile on shaadi.com. He claimed to be posted as a Joint Magistrate in Hardoi. He deceived a female officer working in Unnao by promising to marry her.

On the pretext of not getting a salary, he got Rs 1 lakh in cash and Rs 1,23,253 transferred online. After some time, the accused told the woman officer that he had been transferred from Hardoi to Kasganj. This made the woman officer suspicious. When she investigated, she found out that there was no joint magistrate of this name in Hardoi. After this, she lodged a complaint in the cyber police station. During the investigation, the police came to know that the accused had cheated a woman officer in Lucknow in the same way. The police arrested him. Fake IAS appointment letter, PAN card, passbook and edited photo with DM Hardoi were recovered from him.

According to SP Neeraj Kumar Jadoun, the accused also victimised a woman officer from a neighbouring district and another woman officer posted in Lucknow. The matter came to light when the victim demanded her money back and the accused threatened to kill her. The police are now investigating other crimes committed by the accused.

Accused Harikesh Pandey said, ‘At that time my younger brother was unwell. In such a situation, I took money from the woman officer by telling her that I was an IAS. I had also borrowed that too. I had taken Rs 1.52 lakh. I had told her that I was a joint magistrate. I had told her that I would return the money.’

Hardoi SP Neeraj Kumar Jadoun said, ‘The woman IAS officer had lodged a complaint of fraud. A case was registered in the cyber police station. Based on the investigation, Harikesh Pandey has been arrested. The accused had created a fake ID on a matrimonial site. The accused used to call himself a joint magistrate. The accused had cheated the woman officer of Rs 2.10 lakh. Investigation has revealed that the accused had also cheated a woman officer from Lucknow.’