Man impersonates ‘Air Force Squadron Leader’, cheats woman of Rs 1.95 lakh

In a recent arrest by the Rajkot City Police, a 33-year-old man, Prateek Bharadwaj, has been charged with impersonating an Air Force Squadron Leader and defrauding a woman of Rs 1.95 lakh. This incident occurred on September 11, following the initial "e-Zero FIR" complaint that was transferred to the Rajkot City Police recently.

The victim, a mid-twenties woman originally from Rajkot, is currently residing in Gandhinagar and works there. She reached out to the accused through his Instagram profile, where he displayed a photograph wearing what appeared to be an Indian Air Force uniform. It was discovered that Prateek Bharadwaj, who is actually employed at a travel agency in Rajkot, claimed to be posted at the Bidar Air Force Base in Karnataka, which houses Squadron 52, also known as the Suryakiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT) of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Prateek Bharadwaj allegedly cheated the woman by promising her a job with the IAF. The police have noted that the accused has a history of two earlier FIRs under Gujarat's Prohibition Act. The social media posts, purportedly made by Bharadwaj from February 2025 onwards, mostly feature his association with Squadron 52 (SKAT) and various airshows.

Inspector K K Gohil of the Gandhigram-2 (University) police station stated that it appears this could be Bharadwaj's first act of fraud, as he did not attempt to hide his true identity or mobile number during the deception. The police are currently investigating to determine if there were any other potential victims.