Ghaziabad: 66-year-old arrested for posing ‘high commissioner of Oman’

A 66-year-old man from Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi was arrested by the Ghaziabad police on Thursday for posing as the “High Commissioner of Oman” and demanding police security and escort vehicles to visit his daughter’s house in Vaishali, police said. To be sure, Oman’s diplomatic representative to India is called ambassador and not high commissioner since Oman is not part of the British Commonwealth. The accused, KS Rana, also demanded VIP protocols in Mathura, and Faridabad, and was the chief guest at an event at a Delhi hotel in February while posing as the “high commissioner”, police said.

Rana works as a trade commissioner for an NGO and owns a science and technology college in Agra, and a resort in Rajasthan, police said. He has been the vice chancellor in four universities in Uttarakhand and Rajasthan between 2018 and 2024 and an expert advisor to the Union environment ministry between 2015 and 2018, police said. He was a professor at a university in Agra between 1982 and 2015, police said.

“Rana sent a letter to the Ghaziabad police to obtain VIP protocols for a visit to his daughter’s house in Vaishali on March 12. However, the documents he sent seemed suspicious, and we questioned him,” said Abhishek Srivastava, assistant commissioner of police (Indirapuram circle).

“We provided him the protocol but also questioned him, and he accepted that he is not a diplomat. He works for an NGO as a trade commissioner. He misused his position and posed as the ‘High Commissioner of Oman’ while trying to obtain VIP protocols on fake documents. He sent a letter for obtaining protocol to Ghaziabad police. We have also seized fake documents that he sent to police authorities in Faridabad and Mathura to obtain VIP protocols,” said Nimish Patil, deputy commissioner of police (trans-Hindon zone).

A Mercedes car with a fake diplomatic registration plate and a flag of Oman was recovered from Rana, police said. The car was registered in Haryana and not registered as a diplomatic vehicle.

“We contacted the Embassy of Oman, and they denied knowing KS Rana. They also confirmed that Rana’s Mercedes car was not provided by the embassy,” DCP Patil added.

Rana was arrested from UP Gate, police said.

Police said that they have booked Rana under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 319(2) (cheating by personation), 318(4) (cheating), and 336(3) (forgery) at Kaushambi police station.

Police said that Rana joined the NGO in 2024, but the NGO is not involved in his acts.