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

A 33-year-old man was on Friday (September 11) arrested by the Rajkot City Police for allegedly impersonating a Squadron Leader in the Suryakiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and cheating a woman of Rs 1.95 lakh with the false promise of a job.

The case followed the first “e-Zero FIR” that was transferred to Rajkot City Police since the initiative was launched in late August. Under this initiative of the Gujarat Police, a complaint can be directly filed by calling the 1930 Cyber helpline, after which it is first filed as a Zero FIR and then transferred to the relevant police station.

“Prateek Bharadwaj became friends with this woman who approached him after seeing his Instagram profile and believing him to be in the Air Force. He told her he was posted at Bidar Air Force Base in Karnataka,” the police said in a statement.

“He then cheated her of Rs 1.95 lakh with the promise of getting her a job in the IAF,” the statement said. Bidar AFB is indeed home to Squadron 52, also known as SKAT. Bharadwaj actually works at a travel agency in Rajkot, ACP (West) R S Bariya said, adding that the accused had put up several videos of SKAT on his Instagram handle, allegedly to cheat people.

The officer added that Bharadwaj has two earlier FIRs filed against him under Gujarat’s Prohibition Act. There are several videos on the purported Instagram handle, mostly of Squadron 52 (SKAT), including those on its 30th raising day on May 26, 2026.

There are also videos from the Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations, as well as of performances at various airshows. The posts, purportedly made by Bharadwaj, are from February 2025 onwards. Speaking to The Indian Express, Inspector K K Gohil of the Gandhigram-2 (University) police station said, “It primarily appears that he may have cheated someone for the first time because he had made no attempts to hide his real identity or mobile number while cheating the complainant, who aspired to join the Air Force.” Further investigation in this case and whether there have been other purported victims, is currently underway police said.

Brendan Dabhi works with The Indian Express, focusing his comprehensive reporting primarily on Gujarat. He covers the region's most critical social, legal, and administrative sectors, notably specializing at the intersection of health, social justice, and disasters.

Expertise Health and Public Policy: He has deep expertise in healthcare issues, including rare diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the complex logistics of organ transplants, and public health challenges like drug-resistant TB and heat health surveillance.

His on-ground reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic and Mucormycosis was critical in exposing healthcare challenges faced by marginalized communities in Gujarat. Social Justice and Legal Administration: He reports on the functioning of the legal and police system, including the impact of judicial philosophy, forensics and crucial administrative reforms (.

He covers major surveillance and crackdown exercises by the Gujarat police and security on the international border. Disaster and Crisis Management: His work closely tracks how government and civic bodies respond to large-scale crises, providing essential coverage on the human and administrative fallout of disasters including cyclones, floods, conflict, major fires and reported extensively on the AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad.

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