Watch: Man Pretending To Be IPS Demands Salute Instead Of Paying ₹40 Tea Bill In Lucknow Gets Exposed; Arrested

A man allegedly posing as an IPS officer was arrested in Lucknow after a dispute over an unpaid bread packet exposed his claim. The accused, identified as Mithilesh Gupta, reportedly demanded that police personnel salute him and insisted he was posted in Noida. Police later confirmed he was not associated with the force and registered a case

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Watch: Man Pretending To Be IPS Demands Salute Instead Of Paying ₹40 Tea Bill In Lucknow Gets Exposed; Arrested
Shashank Nair Updated: Tuesday, June 16, 2026, 04:47 PM IST
Watch: Man Pretending To Be IPS Demands Salute Instead Of Paying ₹40 Tea Bill In Lucknow Gets Exposed; Arrested

Lucknow: A case involving a fake IPS officer has come to light in Lucknow. A man pretending to be an IPS officer from Noida was arrested in Lucknow after a dispute over an unpaid bread packet exposed what police say was a false claim to a senior police rank.

Dispute leads to arrest

The incident occurred in the Mahanagar area of Lucknow, where a tea stall owner accused the man of taking a packet of bread from his shop without paying for it, according to India Today report.

He then demanded "respect" from on-duty police personnel. A video of the incident, now widely shared on social media, shows the accused repeatedly insisting that constables salute him after he tried to leave without paying the tea vendor.

Police question accused

After the complaint, local police reached the spot and began questioning the man posing as an IPS officer. The accused repeatedly claimed that he was an IPS officer posted in Noida.

The constables, however, defied him, with one of them telling the man directly that no salute would be offered to someone in civilian clothes and that if he truly was a police officer, he should put on his uniform and produce his identity card first.

"Come wearing the uniform and I will salute you," one of the cops can be heard saying in the viral clip.

Police register case

Reacting to the viral video, Lucknow Police responded on X, saying, "A case has been registered at Mahanagar Police Station under appropriate sections in connection with the incident. The accused youth has been arrested, and further legal proceedings are underway."

Accused identified

Reportedly, the accused was identified as Mithilesh Gupta, an executive working for a private company. Officials said he was neither an IPS officer nor associated with the police force and had allegedly been passing himself off as an IPS officer to project influence and authority.

Similar incident reported

Earlier last week, Army personnel detained a 21-year-old man for allegedly impersonating a Brigadier in the Indian Army in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur.

Published on: Tuesday, June 16, 2026, 04:47 PM IST

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