The “International Police and Crime Investigation Bureau”, run from an office decorated with “police-like colours and logos”, was located in New Delhi satellite city Noida, police said in a statement late Sunday.

The accused forged documents and certificates and ran a website where they sought “donations” from victims, police said.

They also claimed they had an “affiliation with Interpol” and other international crime units.

“The perpetrators presented themselves as public servants,” the police said.

Police recovered several mobile phones, chequebooks, stamp seals and identity cards.

The arrests come just weeks after a man was arrested for allegedly running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers of money with promises of employment abroad.

The accused was operating an illegal “West Arctic embassy” and claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations including “West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia”.