Embassy in India in the name of a non-existent country; Ambassador arrested

 

 

An ambassador who was operating a fake embassy in India in the name of a country called 'West Arctic', which is not recognized by the world's nations, has been arrested. The incident took place in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Harshvardhan Jain, who was described as the 'Baron' of West Arctic, was arrested by the Noida Special Task Force. A case has also been registered against him for offering jobs abroad.

The mystery is that this embassy has been operating for eight years. A special flag was also installed in front of the building. Jain was duping people by pretending to be the ambassador of the embassy, using morphed pictures of national leaders and vehicles with diplomatic number plates. The fake embassy was operating in a rented luxury building in Kavi Nagar.

During a search of the building, the authorities seized Rs 44.7 lakh, foreign currency, 12 fake diplomatic passports, 18 diplomatic plates and fake government documents. Using the fake identity of a diplomat, Harsh Vardhan had also embezzled money by promising jobs in foreign countries. There have also been allegations of hawala transactions through shell companies.

Travis McHenry, a US naval officer, established a country called West Arctic in 2001 and declared himself the Grand Duke. It claims to be a country with 2356 citizens in the West Arctic, located in Antarctica.