'IAS officer' booked for threatening to kill woman if she didn't marry him

NEW DELHI: A man was booked in Lucknow for allegedly claiming to be an IAS officer and threatening to kill an LLB student if she refused to marry him, police said on Monday.

The suspect, Deepak Kumar, has been charged at Lucknow's Chinhat police station based on a complaint filed by the victim's mother on November 30.

According to the complaint, Kumar first contacted the woman through WhatsApp in 2020. He claimed to be from Bihar's East Champaran district and shared his Aadhaar details.

Kumar said he had completed a BTech degree in Haryana and claimed to be an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in training in Delhi. However, the woman later discovered that Kumar worked for a private company in Delhi that dealt with computer-related work, news agency PTI reported.

The complaint said that Kumar hacked mobile phones of girls and pressured them to marry him. He had allegedly cheated two or three other women, and a case was already ongoing against him.

The complainant said her daughter did not know Kumar personally and that there were no discussions about marriage between them or their families.

Kumar is accused of sending abusive and threatening messages to the woman’s relatives to pressure her into marriage.

According to the complaint, Kumar threatened to harm the woman with petrol or acid and burn her if she refused his marriage proposal.

Police have registered a case against Kumar under sections 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 79 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita, along with the IT (Amendment) Act. Kumar has not yet been arrested yet.