Fake embassy in UP busted; man running 'West Arctica' consulate held

The accused had a fleet of luxurious cars having diplomatic number plates and used to flaunt his 'connections' with senior officials and politicians of other nations.

Lucknow: West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia—these are some of nations in the world you may not have heard about. The reason? They don’t exist but yet, they had their 'embassies' in India!

Uncovering the racket, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday busted a fake embassy in Ghaziabad and arrested one person.

The accused, identified as Harshvardhan Jain, the self-styled ambassador of West Arctica, a micronation in Antarctica not recognized by any country, operated the embassy from a palatial bungalow in Kavi Nagar locality of Ghaziabad. Jain called himself the Baron of West Arctica.

Police said that West Arctica was a United States non-profit advocating for climate action and unrecognized micronation in Antarctica.

Jain had a fleet of luxurious cars having diplomatic number plates, police sources here said on Wednesday.

Sources added that four luxury vehicles, 12 diplomatic passports of micronations, Rs 47 lakh cash, foreign currency and stamps were recovered from his possession.

Jain used to flaunt his 'connections' with senior officials and politicians and had morphed photographs showing him with Presidents and Prime Ministers of other nations. He used to dupe people on the pretext of getting them jobs in foreign countries.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Jain had been booked for having a satellite phone in the year 2011. He was also allegedly involved in money laundering, sources said.

Jain used to be connected to the international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and controversial spiritual guru Chandraswamy,

Police said that a case has been registered in this connection with the present charge at Kavi Nagar police station in Ghaziabad and investigation was on.