Story of ‘Lieutenant Shivam Pandey’: Con artist who claimed he was posted in Kashmir, published a book; finally arrested in Kolkata

A person calling himself ‘Lieutenant Shivam Pandey’ turned out to be a con artist and was arrested in Kolkata earlier this week.

His story seems straight out of a Hollywood thriller. ‘Pandey’ whose real name is yet to be known had made everyone believe that he was an Indian Army officer posted in the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps. Pandey, according to a media report, had even written and published a book ‘Untold Stoy From The Indian Army’ under the fake identity.

The man’s over-indulgence in social media, however, led to his downfall as he was tracked and arrested by officials of military intelligence and police in West Bengal last Monday.

The accused, according to a report by The Print, is a resident of Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. He even had kept four “bodyguards” who also were arrested. According to the report, the man was quite active on social media lately trying to promote his book.

He had even tried to persuade Facebook and Twitter to verify his accounts and mark them with a blue tick.

After his social media activity was noticed by intelligence officials, his profile was put under surveillance.

A trap was laid to detain him after inputs suggested that he was travelling to Kolkata. He, according to reports, was arrested near the New Market area on Monday.

Interestingly, even at the time of his arrest, the man was clad in combat fatigue. A fake identity card and letterpads were recovered from him.