Army deserter held for duping defence aspirants

Netaichand Jana, 49, an army deserter in the fake uniform of a Lieutenant Colonel.

For years, an army deserter had made a lucrative living by posing as a senior military officer scamming young army hopefuls and their families.

However, his duplicitous life caught up with him earlier this week when he aroused the suspicions of army personnel while sauntering around openly in the CSD Canteen of No 2 ASC Training Centre in Vannarpet in civilian clothing.

Military Intelligence, Southern Command, discovered that the impostor, Netaichand Jana, 49, a resident of Koramangala and a native of West Bengal, had a series of unusual items in his possession: a doctored Army ID card with his real name and claiming the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, plus two mobile phones.

A closer search revealed copies of recruitment forms on his phones, two passbooks with entries of substantial cash transactions, medical slips, a set of photographs showing him in army uniform with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and four debit cards.

Interrogation revealed that Jana was “involved in fraudulent recruitment and duping a number of aspiring defence candidates in exchange for a large amount of money”. Sources said he was charging rural or indigent young men and their families between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000.

“Moreover, he also asked for the original marks card for the “enlistment process”. He would then extort up to Rs 1 lakh from families of the victims to return these documents,” the Army said.

The police added that Jana also had visiting cards mentioning that he was a member of the Indian Army, along with his mobile number.

“When we checked his antecedents, we discovered that he had enlisted in the army in August 1993 but had subsequently deserted in 2003. His top rank while in the service was sepoy or Lance Naik,” the Army said.

An FIR has been lodged at Viveknagar police station under Sections 419, 420, 448, 464, 465 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.

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