# Fake Army havildar held in Bareilly for cheating Agniveer hopefuls 2026-08-27T01:22:07+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet A 36-year-old man from Lucknow, Rajesh Tiwari, was arrested in Bareilly on Wednesday for posing as an Army havildar and defrauding over 17 youths, police said. He allegedly targeted candidates declared medically unfit during Agniveer recruitment, promising to clear them in re-medical exams for money. Acting on a tip from Military Intelligence, Cantonment police and the Special Operations Group caught him. Police recovered a fake stamp of an Army unit, a register with candidates' names, fake call letters and referral forms from Tiwari. He allegedly used these to convince victims he had contacts with Army medical staff and senior officers. Tiwari also promised jobs in the Territorial Army and the postal department's Gramin Dak Sevak scheme, Rs 13 lakh was transferred to a middleman for a promised postal job, police said. SP City Manush Parik said Tiwari had been operating near Bareilly railway station since August 21. His father was an Army havildar who retired in 2012. Tiwari opened an Army training academy in Jabalpur in 2015-16, which shut after the Agniveer scheme began. A case is registered at Cantonment police station, investigators are examining his phone and bank records to find his suspected associates in Punjab and Rajasthan. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Agniveer, launched in 2022 by the Centre, is a short-term military recruitment scheme for soldiers, sailors and airmen for four years, with 25% retained for regular service. Before it, soldiers typically enlisted for 15, 17 years, making lifetime job security a strong lure. Cheating rings that target job seekers are a recurring problem near Army recruitment centres, the Army's Directorate of Military Intelligence and local police often run joint operations. Tiwari's own background as an Army havildar's son could let him sound convincing to anxious candidates. The Cantonment police review his phone records and bank transactions to map the larger network, arrests of his alleged associates in Punjab and Rajasthan remain the next likely step. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Led with the arrest and police account, no questioning of official numbers or systemic issues This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Agniveer, Bareilly, Military Intelligence, Rajesh Tiwari, Territorial Army Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/fake-army-havildar-held-in-bareilly-for-cheating-agniveer-hopefuls/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/fake-army-havildar-held-in-bareilly-for-cheating-agniveer-hopefuls/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/