Thursday | Jun 26 2025 | 03:19:58 AM
New Delhi, June 2
The Delhi Crime Branch have arrested a 77-year-old man for allegedly duping people by posing as a colonel in the Army and offering them real estate under a fake Army Welfare Housing Scheme (AWS).
The accused was on the run from 18 years and traced in Punjab. He was hiding in an old age home in Patiala since 2007 when he jumped bail.
The accused has been identified as Sitaram Singla, who has an MA in History and Economics from Panjab University, .
The crime branch team received a tip-off about his whereabouts and arrested him.
Singla was arrested in 2007 after a complaint was filed at Vivek Vihar police station by a bank employee, Anil Nigam; he claimed Singla duped him of Rs 56,000.
Singla was arrested and got bail the same year, police said. But he failed to appear in court and had been on the run ever since, police said. On April 26, 2025, he was declared a proclaimed offender by the Karkardooma court.
Singla came to Delhi in 1987. “He started working as a contractor in the Indian Army and supplied oil to various cantonment areas all over India. During his work, he gained knowledge about various ranks of Army Officers and learned about the recruitment process. He started posing as a colonel and duping people on the pretext of getting them discounted real estate and jobs using AWHO.
