'Westarctica' diplomat case: Fake Ghaziabad embassy kingpin tied to godman, arms dealer, ₹300 cr fraud
During the raid on Jain's fake embassy in Ghaziabad's Kavi Nagar, police recovered pictures of him with controversial 'godman' Chandraswami and Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
Chandraswami gained prominence in the 80s and 90s and was considered to be the spiritual adviser of three former prime ministers – PV Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar and VP Singh.
However, he was arrested in 1996 in connection with financial irregularities. He was also accused of funding the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
A raid at his ashram also revealed his links to arms dealer Khashoggi.
The UP ATS, during the probe, found that Chandraswami had introduced Jain to Khashoggi and Ahsan Ali Sayed in 2000 in London. Sayed allegedly worked with the fake diplomat to open 25 shell companies which were used for brokering deals, UP Police additional director general (ADG), Law and Order, Amitabh Yash, said.
Sayed also operated a company called Western Advisory Group, based out of Switzerland, which worked with other companies to help them procure loans in exchange for brokerage.
The company allegedly collected brokerage worth nearly ₹300 crore (25 million pounds) and fled from the country, following which Sayed was arrested in London in 2022, NDTV reported.
The police are now probing the degree of Jain's involvement in the ₹300 crore scam on Swiss territory. His involvement in arms dealing is also under the scanner given his links to Khashoggi, UP-STF additional superintendent of police Raj Kumar Mishra said.
Who is 'Westarctica diplomat' Harshvardhan Jain?
Harsha Vardhan Jain is reportedly an MBA graduate from the London College of Applied Science. He had been running a fake embassy for micronations such as 'Westarctica', which are not recognised by any state for seven years.
He claimed to be a consul/ambassador for non-existent countries like Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia. He is the son of a businessman in Ghaziabad, and his family owned marble mines in Rajasthan.
However, after his father's passing away, the family faced financial challenges and Jain met Chandraswami, who helped him move to London and open several companies.
After the godman's death, Jain came back to Ghaziabad and began running the fake embassy. During the raid on his premises, the police seized four luxury cars with fake diplomatic number plates, forged documents, foreign currency, and other materials used to run his hawala racket.
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Hindustan Times
6 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
NIA unlikely to challenge 2008 Malegaon blasts case verdict
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Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
No evidence of RDX possession by Purohit, finds spl NIA court
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Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘Strong suspicion not same as proof': All 7 acquitted in '08 Malegaon blast
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Striking terror by orchestrating a bomb blast in Malegaon, a Muslim-dominated area, was the alleged objective. However, the judge said to show that the conspiracy was finalised at Faridabad and Bhopal, the prosecution was not supported by "material witnesses" and the testimony of those who did was not "reliable and acceptable. ..other meetings which were held at Kolkata, Indore, Ujjain, Nashik and Pune, no acceptable evidence is present on these on record…witnesses have retracted from their earlier statements given to ATS. Therefore neither conspiracy is proved nor meetings are proved," the judge said. While it was alleged that Ajay Rahirkar, acting as treasurer of Abhinav Bharat, collected donations and distributed funds to Lt Col Prasad Purohit, who was a trustee, as well as to Sudhakar Dhar Diwedi and Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Purohit used the funds for personal expenses, including house construction and paying for LIC policies. "But there was no evidence that the said amount was used for terrorist activities," the judge said. The retraction of statements given by 39 of 323 prosecution witnesses to the ATS considerably weakened the case. "The testimony of prosecution witnesses is riddled with material inconsistencies and contradictions," the judge said. Referring to procedural shortcomings, the judge criticised the handling of the crime scene. No sketch was drawn and the spot was not immediately barricaded, leading to contamination. He pointed out that a mob gathered after the blast, vandalised vehicles, caused damage to a police chowki, and snatched firearms of cops, which led to a lathicharge, police opening fire and using of grenades. No fingerprints or DNA samples were collected at the spot. Even material seized such as mobiles and laptops were not sealed as per due process. The judgment also raised concerns about procedures adopted for collecting voice samples and intercepting mobile communication. Interceptions were not authorized in the specific period, rendering intercepted data unusable as evidence. It was noted that "narco analysis was carried out of the accused by ATS but not supported by documents." The judge even raised concerns about planting of evidence. He recommended an inquiry into the actions of ATS officer Shekhar Bagade, whose presence at an accused's house was seen to be suspicious. The judge said despite allegations that Purohit brought RDX from Kashmir, no evidence was presented to show its storage at his house or its use in assembling the bomb. Interestingly, the NIA supplementary chargesheet in May 2016 had accused the ATS of planting RDX traces to frame Purohit and, notably, gave a clean chit to Pragya Thakur and others. However, the special court on Dec 27, 2017 ruled that seven accused, including Thakur and Purohit, would face trial under UAPA. In conclusion, the judge on Thursday spoke of the "agony, frustration and trauma caused to society at large, more particularly to the family of victims by the fact that heinous crime of this nature has gone unpunished." "However law does not permit the court to convict the accused solely on the basis of moral conviction or suspicion," he said. The case will now continue against two absconding accused, Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange.
