There is an old saying that truth is stranger than fiction. It needs to be corrected – not sometimes — but truth is always stranger than fiction.
In what appears to be a straight-forward case of cheating and forgery rather than mistaken identity a man called Govind was working in the 45th battalion of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for almost 9 years without anyone realising that the documents including fake marksheet and Aadhar card submitted by him in the record office were that of a person called Parvat from Kindraho village, Patharia tehsil of Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh.
The matter came to light when Govind took leave but did not return back to the battalion for many months. The ITBP authorities sent several reminders for him to rejoin the battalion but he continued to remain absent and did not even bother to reply to the official reminders.
After some time the ITBP declared him a proclaimed offender and wrote to the Damoh police to arrest Parvat the soldier who was deliberately not joining duty and also not responding to the official letters.
But, when Damoh police did not take up the matter seriously, a representative of the ITBP reached Kindraho village which falls under Patharia police station on the basis of the address mentioned in the service records of the absconding combatant.
However when the ITBP official reached the residential address of the missing soldier – he was in for a rude shock, when he discovered that the actual Parvat Singh was an altogether different person and he never worked for ITBP.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the documents of Parvat Singh present in the Kindraho village were used by some other person who worked in ITBP for almost 10 years in the name of actual Parvat Singh.
The ITBP’s service records revealed that a man called Parvat son of Sultan Adivasi, a resident of Kindraho village under Patharia police station of Damoh district was appointed in ITBP in 2017 and served in the 45th battalion for almost nine years till March 2024.
But the ITBP official discovered that the actual Parvat is only fifth pass, and works as a daily wage labourer. His marksheet and Aadhar card were used by an imposter called Govind who joined ITBP in his place by producing the fake documents.
How the fraud was unearthed
This fraud was revealed when a letter was issued by the ITBP Regional Headquarters in Dibrugarh on 17 October 2024 ordering Parvat Singh to join duty by 27 June 2024, as per rules.
But Parvat Singh did not return back on duty. Thereafter several letters were issued at the address of Patharia police station in Damoh asking him again and again to join duty.
When he did not reply, a formal request was made to the Superintendent of Police Damoh wide a letter dated 10 August 2024 from the ITBP headquarters to arrest Parvat and hand him over to the ITBP authorities. But, once again the request was turned down by the local police which didn’t arrest Parvat or hand him over to the ITBP officials.
After some time as per ITBP service rules, a judicial investigation committee was formed and Parvat Singh was declared a proclaimed offender.
Meanwhile it became known that a man from UP called Govind Jat, son of Govardhan Jat borrowed Parvat’s mark sheet and Aadhaar card on the pretext of obtaining a loan, and misused them to join ITBP about 9 years ago.
Fraud in the name of getting a loan
According to the real Parvat Adivasi, “We are 6 siblings. I am the third. I studied in the government primary school of the village till fifth standard and now I work as a labourer. No one in my family has ever worked in a government job. My elder sister lives in Mathura (UP). I used to visit her place often. This is how I got acquainted with Govind, son of Govardhan Jat a resident of Jharoti village in Mathura district of UP. I told Govind that I wanted to get a loan. He promised to help me on the basis of my mark sheet and documents.”
After about two months Govind Jat met Parvat and gave him a cheque drawn on SBI Bank and said that the loan was approved.
“He told me to deposit the cheque in the bank after two days and the money will come my account. But when I deposited the cheque in the bank, it turned out to be fake. After that, I have neither spoken to Govind Jat nor met him for about 7 years”, he added.
“Another person was working in ITBP on the basis of documents of Parvat Adivasi of Patharia. He was absconding from the ITBP camp for a long time. A letter was received to find and hand him over to them. But when we searched at the local level, we found that this is not the person who was working in ITBP. Now ITBP people are looking for that fake youth who used the identity of Parvat Adivasi. He has to be caught and handed over to ITBP people,” Damoh Superintendent of Police Shrutkirti Somvanshi told Taazakhabar News.
A FIR has been registered on April 11, 2025 for obtaining a job on the basis of fake identity.
Meanwhile one version says the fraudster Govind Jat is dead, though this has not been confirmed yet, and the case is being investigated by a team from Delhi.
There is no evidence at present to prove that Govind Jat is dead.
Disclaimer:
Never give your Aadhar card to anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. However, if you need to give any document like Aadhar card to anyone, then make sure to write the reason why you need to give a sensitive document like Aadhar card to someone. Under all circumstances use masked Aadhar card to prevent misuse of the document. Aadhar card has 12 digits. The last 4 digits can be shared, not the first 8 digits which contain extremely sensitive information. Save yourself from becoming a victim of fraud – use only masked Aadhar card.
