Man pretends to be a cop to avoid paying traffic fine, gets arrested instead

Image: The Hindu

On Tuesday, Kasturba Marg police arrested a 35-year-old who pretended to be a senior policeman to avoid paying a traffic violation fine.

According to a police official, the accused, Naresh Chandragiri, was travelling on his bike without a helmet on Sunday. When he reached Ray Dongri road in Borivali (E), a traffic policewoman noticed that he wasn’t wearing a helmet and pulled him up.

When the traffic cop, Sayali Bhonsle, approached the bike, she noticed that it had the Mumbai police insignia on his bike. Despite that, she reprimanded him for not wearing a helmet. When questioned, Chandragiri responded by saying that she was no one to question him as he was her senior in the police force.

He told Bhonsle that he was ‘Uttam Kamble’ from Samta Nagar police station. To his dismay, the traffic cop chose to verify the details before letting him pass. When she called to check his credentials, the official informed her that his details were fake. Following which, Bhonsle took him to the police station and got him arrested.

At the station, Chandragiri confessed that he was once a zero police and therefore well versed with their workings. A zero police includes individuals who are not a part of the force, but occasionally help the police.

Chandragiri has been booked under section 170 (impersonating a public servant), 171 (wearing a garb on carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. He was also changed under the Motor Vehicle act for not carrying the requisite documents and not wearing a helmet.

He was produced in court on Tuesday and is currently remanded in police custody.