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The accused, identified as Harsh Vardhan Jain, has been arrested for allegedly posing as a diplomat and running a sham embassy out of a rented house in the Kavi Nagar area.
Cars with diplomatic number plates parked outside the fake embassy of ‘West Arctic’ in Ghaziabad | Image: ANI
The Noida unit of Uttar Pradesh’s Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday uncovered a fake embassy operating in Ghaziabad under the name ‘West Arctic’, a self-proclaimed micronation founded by a former US Navy officer but not recognised by any state.
The accused, identified as Harsh Vardhan Jain, has been arrested for allegedly posing as a diplomat and running a sham embassy out of a rented house in the Kavi Nagar area.
According to officials, Jain had been styling himself as the “Consul” or “Ambassador” of several obscure micronations, including West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Lodonia.
#WATCH | Noida unit of UP STF busted an illegal embassy running in Ghaziabad and arrested Harsh Vardhan Jain, who was running an illegal West Arctic Embassy by taking a rented house in Kavinagar calling himself Consul/Ambassador of countries like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia,… pic.twitter.com/BX6vaTLESJ— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2025
He reportedly used diplomatic number plates on his vehicles and even issued passports, ID cards, and forged official documents in the names of these self-styled states.
The STF recovered four vehicles bearing diplomatic plates, along with 12 diplomatic passports purportedly issued by these fictitious nations.
Officials also seized forged documents bearing the seal of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, two fake PAN cards, and 34 rubber stamps belonging to various countries and companies.
Further, the search operation led to the recovery of two fake press ID cards, Rs 44.7 lakh in cash, and foreign currency from multiple countries, suggesting possible financial fraud or international links.
Several documents related to shell companies were also found during the raid.
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Delhi, India, India
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