A 35-year-old college dropout has been arrested for allegedly posing as an IPS officer from the naxal-affected Gondia district and attending at least three functions in Thane rural.
At one such function, Narayan Mankar, the serving mayor of Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) felicitated the accused while the police officers on duty saluted him.
According to Waliv police, the accused, Hemant Dattatray Patil, is a local resident of Waliv village and is a college dropout. He has been posing as an additional superintendent from Gondia on probation.
A female college friend of Mr Patil who now claims that she did not know his real identity had organised a felicitation ceremony for him in Naigaon, Vasai on July 14, where he was felicitated by Mr Mankar.
He also attended an iftar party during ramzan and had attended a prize distribution ceremony in New English School.
“At one such function, we saw him and had to salute him. We then cross checked his credentials and found out he is an imposter,” said investigating officer, assistant inspector Ramdas Wakode.
“He got the uniform stitched from a tailor in Mumbai. We believe that he was enjoying the luxury and respect he received as an IPS officer. We are also checking if he is charging money from anyone for his appearances,” added Mr Wakode.
Mr Patil has been booked under Section 170 (impersonating a public servant), Section 171 (wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent), and Section
419 (punishment for cheating by impersonation) of the Indian Penal Code.
He was produced in a magistrate’s court and remanded to police custody till Sunday for further probe.