On January 23, the news agency ANI shared an X post about a woman who was arrested in Delhi for moving around in a car fitted with a forged number plate of a foreign embassy. The arrest was made by a team of the anti-extortion & kidnapping cell (AEKC) of Delhi Crime Branch, which had a tip about the said car making regular visits to various embassies and high-security areas in New Delhi. In the post, the face of the arrested woman had been blurred.
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police, too, announced the arrest from its official X handle (@CrimeBranchDP), and called it a big breakthrough. The same image, with the woman's face blurred, was shared. There was no further detail about the accused's identity.
Media outlets such as Hindustan Times, The New Indian Express, The Economic Times, The Times of India and Indian Express carried news of the arrest, but none of these publications said anything about who the woman was.
The reports quoted DCP (Crime Branch) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav as saying that the woman told the police that "she had purchased the Innova from a foreign embassy in November 2024, following which the embassy filed a complaint at the Chanakyapuri police station as the vehicle had not been transferred in her name. To avoid police checks…. she allegedly prepared forged embassy-style number plates." She also claimed to be a representative of a foreign embassy. However, she could not name the mission or produce any diplomatic or ownership documents for the vehicle.
The Indian Express quoted another police officer as saying that the woman's husband worked as a regional transport officer in the Assam transport department and that her father-in-law was also a government employee. "She took a commission to set up foreign traders with Indian suppliers. She needed contacts in embassies to do that, and forged the number plates to gain that," the officer said.
Alt News Investigation
Upon running a reverse image search on the above-mentioned image, we found several news reports, including a report by NDTV, where the accused's face was visible. However, the reports did not identify her. It only mentioned that the woman was a resident of Guwahati, Assam, and "projected herself as an all-India secretary of a political party". It did not mention the name of any political party.
We then ran a reverse image search on the unblurred image, which led us to an Instagram post from January 24 by the page @dibrugarh.unofficial, where the woman was identified as one Ashma Begum. Upon running a keyword search, we found Ashma Begum's X profile, in which her bio states that she is the national secretary for the Republican Party of India (Athawale), which is a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the ruling bloc at the Centre. RPI(A) is led by Ramdas Athawale, a member of Rajya Sabha and minister of state for social justice and empowerment in the Modi Cabinet.
It should be noted that ANI did not report that the accused had any political connection, even though the same had been reported by other media outlets.
Who is Ashma Begum?
On Ashma's X page, we found several images of her with Athawale, as well as an image of the letter of appointment to the post of the national secretary of the party. While the letter was dated July 30, 2019, it was signed by Athawale on July 30, 2021, and the post was also shared by Ashma on this day. Hence, the printed date could be a typo.
From her X profile, we found a link to Ashma's Instagram page, where her bio said, "Director International Relations, University of Science & Technology Meghalaya". The University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, is a private university in the state. Further, when we checked her Facebook profile, it said that she was the director of sports at the university. We also found a news report from May 2024, when Ashma had received the International MSME Female Entrepreneur Award and was identified in the report for her role at the university. It seems that she started this role in August, 2017.
Google search results show that the University's Facebook page had shared a post when Ashma had joined the institution. However, at present, the link doesn't open. It seems that the post has been deleted. Additionally, on the university's website, the position of the director of sports is currently shown as vacant.
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On her Instagram timeline, Ashma is seen handing a USTM logo bag to the Charge d' Affaires at the Bangladesh High Commission on January 24, 2025. Hence, it appears that the university might have removed any thread connecting Ashma to the institution after her arrest.
A look at Ashma's Instagram profile shows her hobnobbing with diplomats of several countries, and she was the 'Indian representative' in a few international events. She has also been photographed with political leaders in the past, which shows her proximity to power.
Some of these photos were shared by Ashma Begum herself:
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Hello, my name is Ankit Sahu. I'm a 25 year old self-employed Pirate from the Chhindwara.