Mooli Devi Fake Identity Worked As Cop In Rajasthan Police: How did the police catch Mooli Devi?

In the hallowed halls of Rajasthan Police Academy (RPA)—a crucible where raw recruits transform into disciplined officers—a 26-month masquerade unraveled, exposing gaping holes in India’s premier law enforcement training system. Mona Bugalia, a 28-year-old truck driver’s daughter from Nimbad village, didn’t just infiltrate the academy’s rigorous training programs; she weaponized institutional complacency to live out an audacious fantasy. Her arrest on July 5, 2025, reveals not just individual deception but systemic failures that allowed an unqualified imposter to parade as a sub-inspector, mentor trainees, and rub shoulders with IPS officers—all while Rajasthan’s police brass remained oblivious.

The Making of Mooli: From Rejection to Reinvention

The saga begins in 2021 when Bugalia—then a 24-year-old college dropout—failed Rajasthan’s Sub-Inspector (SI) recruitment exam. Hailing from Nagaur’s arid hinterlands, where police jobs symbolize social mobility, the rejection stung deeply. “Her four sisters’ marriages depended on this prestige,” reveals cousin Ramesh Bishnoi. “When reality failed, fiction became her escape route.”

By 2023, ‘Mona’ had metamorphosed into ‘Mooli Devi’—a persona crafted through forged documents claiming SI recruitment under sports quota. Her toolkit:

Counterfeit Appointment Letter: Mimicking RPA’s official letterhead
Fabricated Scorecards: Showing 72% in SI exams she never took
Social Engineering: Joining 17 WhatsApp groups for police aspirants to gather insider jargon

Crucially, she exploited Rajasthan’s 2022 policy allowing “backlog batch” trainees—a COVID-era measure for delayed recruits. “She claimed to be from 2020’s postponed batch,” explains Sikar SP Rajesh Kumar. “No one cross-verified because pandemic records were chaotic.”

Academy Infiltration: Breeching the ‘Impossible’

RPA’s sprawling Jaipur campus, guarded by armed sentries and biometric checks, prides itself on being “fortress-like.” Yet Bugalia’s 730-day charade highlights astonishing lapses:

Stage 1: Initial Access
Posing as a delayed trainee, she bypassed three critical checks:

ID Verification

Batch Integration

Uniform Procurement

Stage 2: Deep Immersion
Once inside, Bugalia mastered the art of institutional camouflage:

Training Participation: Joined morning PT drills and firearms sessions (using others’ weapons)
Social Proof: Clicked selfies with IPS officers during guest lectures
Digital Footprint: Posted Reels of parade practice captioned “Duty First!”

Her pièce de résistance? Delivering a 45-minute career guidance speech at Kota’s Police Public School in full uniform—a video that garnered 230K YouTube views before deletion.

The Unraveling: Trainees Turn Detectives

The facade cracked in June 2025 when probationary SI Arjun Singh noticed anomalies:

No Attendance Records: Bugalia’s name missing from digital rolls
Vague Posting History: Claimed “attached to PHQ” but couldn’t name superiors
Suspicious Documents: Service number 1127/RJ already assigned to a 2019 retiree

An internal probe uncovered darker layers:

Rented Hideout in Sikar: Stocked with ₹7 lakh cash, three uniforms, and exam papers
Dual Identity: Operated as ‘Mona’ on matrimonial apps while posing as ‘SI Mooli’
Financial Trail: ₹12 lakh spent on bribes to academy clerks for look-the-other-way favors

During interrogation, Bugalia confessed: “I wanted my sisters to say, ‘Our sister is a police officer.’ The uniform made people respect me instantly.”

Systemic Rot: How RPA’s Safeguards Failed

The scandal exposes alarming institutional apathy:

1. Biometric Bypass
Despite mandatory Aadhaar-linked entry, guards admitted: “We wave through familiar faces.” Bugalia became a “regular” through sheer frequency.

2. Record-Keeping Chaos
RPA’s training logs—still partially manual—failed to flag an extra trainee. “Our software counts batches, not individuals,” concedes Registrar R.K. Meena.

3. Cultural Complicity
“Questioning a ‘lady officer’ seemed disrespectful,” trainee Priya Sharma recalls. Gender norms aided Bugalia’s credibility.

A 2024 CAG report had warned about Rajasthan’s “porous police recruitment verification,” but no reforms followed.

The Psychology of Pretend: When Aspiration Turns Delusion

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Harish Shetty diagnoses Bugalia’s actions as “pseudologia fantastica”—a compulsion to live elaborate lies. “The academy became her stage; every trainee’s salute was addictive validation,” he explains.

Social media exacerbated this pathology. Analytics show her 562 Instagram posts (#LadySIGoals) received 18K comments—digital dopamine hits sustaining the charade.

Yet there’s a socioeconomic subtext. In Nagaur, where female literacy stagnates at 54%, Bugalia’s impersonation mirrors millions of Indian women fabricating workplace stories to bypass patriarchal skepticism.

Ripple Effects: From Recruitment Reforms to Political Fallout

The aftermath has been seismic:

1. Operational Overhauls

Blockchain IDs: Rajasthan announces digital service certificates on Polygon chain
Facial Recognition Entry: Piloted at RPA gates
Undercover Audits: Decoy trainees to test system integrity

2. Political Repercussions
Opposition leader Sachin Pilot lambasts CM Bhajan Lal: “If a fake SI trains for 2 years, what about real ones?” The BJP counters by highlighting 143 quick suspensions.

3. Cultural Shifts
A viral #RealWomenInKhaki campaign features genuine female SIs sharing struggle stories—a counter to Bugalia’s glamorized narrative.

Epilogue: Truth in Khaki

As Bugalia awaits trial in Jaipur’s Central Jail, her rented room’s wall art speaks volumes—a magazine cutout of Kiran Bedi captioned “My Inspiration.” Nearby, RPA trainees now undergo daily roll calls with iris scans, their once-trusted camaraderie replaced by suspicion.

The case forces India to confront uncomfortable truths: in an era of deepfakes and synthetic identities, even the khaki uniform—that timeless symbol of authority—isn’t immune to imitation. Yet within this crisis lies opportunity—to rebuild systems where aspiration meets accountability, and where every officer’s legitimacy is as verifiable as the badge they wear.

As Rajasthan DGP Umesh Mishra vows, “This impostor stole two years, but she’s given us decades worth of lessons.” The path forward demands more than tech fixes—it requires restoring faith in the very idea that those who enforce the law must first embody its spirit.

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