Police at the Faridpur police station in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district have arrested a woman who allegedly posed as an IAS officer to marry a young man, and later used that false identity to extort close to Rs 40 lakh from her husband and his family. Officers said complaints against the woman had been coming in for a long time before her fraud was confirmed. She was produced in court after the arrest and taken into police remand for further questioning.
A marriage built on a fake IAS claim unravels
Abhishek, a resident of Pachaumi village that falls under the Faridpur police station area, filed a complaint stating that Sadhna, from Sateti village in Badaun district, told him she was an IAS officer and married him on that claim. After the wedding, Sadhna allegedly began posting fabricated photographs and videos on social media portraying herself as a serving IAS officer, which further strengthened her false identity among relatives and acquaintances. Trouble began when a dispute broke out between the couple and their families, after which Sadhna allegedly started threatening Abhishek and his relatives while demanding Rs 40 lakh from them. She reportedly went further, threatening to get his family members jailed if the money was not paid. Under continued pressure and threats, the family eventually gathered the courage to approach the police, and it was during that investigation that the truth emerged, Sadhna was never an IAS officer at all.
Only a BSc graduate, still preparing for a government job
During questioning, Sadhna admitted that she had studied only up to a BSc degree and was actually preparing for government job exams. No appointment letter or official document proving she held the rank of an IAS officer was recovered from her. Despite that, she had kept uploading fabricated photos and videos on social media to present herself as an administrative officer, a move that helped her build false credibility among people around her. It was this fabricated image she first used to secure the marriage and later tried to use to extract a large sum from her husband's family.
SP Anshika Verma lays out how the case unfolded
SP Anshika Verma said that according to the complaint Abhishek filed at the police station, Sadhna and her family had arranged the marriage roughly a year earlier based on fabricated claims. At the time of the wedding, Sadhna had told Abhishek that she was an IAS officer and would soon receive her appointment letter, and she had also lured him with the promise of getting him a government job. Verma added that a social media profile belonging to Sadhna surfaced during the investigation, in which she projects herself as an IAS officer, even though she does not hold any government post at all. Based on these facts, a case was registered at the police station, and after completing the investigation, police arrested Sadhna and sent her to jail. The SP said further legal action in the case would continue.
