A man in India’s Uttar Pradesh state has been arrested after allegedly using artificial intelligence to stage his own funeral and convince a court that he was dead, in an attempt to escape a murder trial.
Rajkumar Rajbhar, 38, was arrested on October 25 after police uncovered the alleged scheme. He was facing trial in connection with the 2016 killing of Yogesh Singh, who was shot dead in Mau district.
According to police, Rajbhar allegedly planned the deception in May 2025 in the neighboring Ghazipur district. Investigators say a goat was cremated in place of a human body, and AI technology was allegedly used to manipulate images to make it appear that Rajbhar himself was lying on the funeral pyre.
Photographs of a funeral procession and other last rites were also reportedly arranged to make the story appear credible.
Police allege that Rajbhar subsequently obtained several documents, including a death certificate issued by the Mau Municipal Council. These documents were submitted to the court to support his claim that he had died. His murder trial was subsequently separated from the proceedings involving another accused, according to media reports.
Rajbhar allegedly remained in hiding for around 18 months before police tracked him down near Khwajajahanpur in Mau district. He was arrested and later remanded to judicial custody.
Investigators suspect that avoiding the murder trial was not his only motive. Police allege that Rajbhar had collected money from several people by promising to invest it in the stock market and may also have intended to evade repayment.
During questioning, Rajbhar reportedly claimed that two doctors he knew had advised him on the plan. Police are investigating the claim and whether anyone else helped him obtain the documents.
A separate case has been registered over the alleged use of forged documents to falsely establish his death. Authorities are also working to restore his status as a living accused in the murder case.
The incident has raised fresh concerns about the misuse of AI-generated images to fabricate evidence and the need for stronger verification of official documents in legal proceedings.
Reporting by Borderless for The Borderless Journal. Filed under Uncategorized · 27 Oct 2026, 09:03.
