A 77-year-old man who had been on the run for more than 17 years in a cheating case involving the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) was arrested by Delhi Police from an old-age home in Patiala, Punjab. The accused, Sitaram Gupta, had been impersonating a Colonel in the Indian Army to defraud people with false promises of housing and job opportunities.
According to police officials, Gupta, originally from Mansa in Punjab, duped people by offering flats and shops under fictitious AWHO schemes and issuing fake receipts. One such case, registered at Vivek Vihar police station in 2007, involved him allegedly taking ₹56,000 from a complainant under false pretenses.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Apoorva Gupta said that Sitaram Gupta was a postgraduate in Economics and History from Panjab University and had once been a student of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After being arrested and released on bail in 2007, Gupta disappeared and failed to appear in court, prompting the issuance of non-bailable warrants. He was officially declared a proclaimed offender by the Karkardooma court on April 26, 2025.
Gupta had begun his career as a contractor supplying oil to Army cantonments, during which time he acquired detailed knowledge of military operations. Using this information, he posed as a high-ranking Army officer and began defrauding people under the guise of Army recruitment and real estate benefits.
He moved to Delhi in 1987 and began masquerading as a Colonel. Over the years, he was involved in multiple frauds, including three other cases registered at Shakarpur police station and the Delhi Crime Branch for offering fake Army jobs.
A special police team was formed to track him down. Acting on a tip-off, investigators traced Gupta to an old-age home in Patiala, where he was living under an assumed identity. He had changed his appearance and severed contact with his family to avoid detection. After confirming his identity through surveillance, he was arrested from the shelter.
During interrogation, Gupta admitted to his involvement in several cheating cases. Police revealed that he had been leading a secluded life, frequently changing locations and mobile numbers to escape arrest. His wife is deceased, and he has two children, but had cut all ties with them while on the run.
