UP Police busts fake 'Westarctica' embassy in Ghaziabad, arrests man posing as diplomat

A man was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police after he started operating a fake embassy in the state in Ghaziabad district and claiming to be an ambassador.

On Tuesday, the Special Task Force of UP Police raided the fake embassy of Westarctican called the Grand Duchy of Westarctica in the locality of Kavi Nagar in ghaziabad. An Indian man Harsh Vardhan who operated a fake diplomatic mission as a bogus diplomat and had registered cars with diplomatic license plates was arrested by the STF.

Westarctica, is a micronation which is claiming the sovereignty of Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica. Westarctica has not been acknowledged by any country or foreign body such as the United Nations (UN) as a sovereign state.

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Micronations are proclaimed and are said to be a sovereign state, in their own flag, constitution, currencies and their rulers and they tend to consist of marginal land, say, a farm house. Nevertheless, they lack international recognition.

According to CNN-News 18, the STF has been able to identify that Harsh had posted doctored images of him with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu to deceive people so that they would actually think that he was a diplomat.

According to the report, other than Westarctica, Harsh stated himself to be the diplomat of Seborga, Polynivia, and Ladonia, micronations.

According to Dainik Jagran, Harsh operated a rogue embassy of Westarctica at the premises of KB-35 Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad.

The STF discovered several cars that belonged to him and had counterfeit blue number plates; only diplomatic vehicles that have been accredited by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are allowed to have such number plates.

It is worth noting that no person can open an embassy, high commission or act as a diplomat unless he or she is accredited by the Union government.

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According to Jagran, STF retrieved Rs 44,70,000 in cash, other world currency, blue numberplates of 20 different countries and four cars with blue numberplates among others, which were in his possession.

According to the newspaper, the STF raided Harsh after getting tip offs that individuals were being cheated by an embassy that operated in Kavi Nagar of Ghaziabad.

The fake embassy was busted by the STF following assurance by the central authorities that indeed it was a fake embassy and Harsh was a fraud, the report said.

Harsh according to the report had been surreptitiously collecting money off people promising them to drop them overseas and even had people obtain fake diploma passports of Seborga.

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