Pune driving schools book test slots using cricket players' names

PUNE: Dhoni, Virat, Ashish and Ajinkya bunked learners' driving licence test last June at the Regional Transport Office here. Hang on, the Indian cricketers did not play truant. Operators of eight driving schools booked slots online using partial names of the sports stars.
The cyber crime cell discovered partial names of Indian cricketers Ajinkya (Rahane), (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, Ashish (Nehra) and Virat (Kohli) were used for booking the slots.
The Bund Garden police on Wednesday booked the eight operators of different driving schools for allegedly furnishing misleading and fake information on the website of the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Pune, to book these test appointments.
Regional Transport Officer, Pune, Sarjerao Pawar (56) has lodged a complaint in this regard with the Bund Garden police station.
According to the police, the fake bookings were made in June 2015. The cyber crime branch officials identified the suspects in the last few months and on Wednesday a case was registered against them.
The eight driving schools are in the city and in Indapur taluka of Pune district.
According to the complaint, the accused misused the facility of online slot booking for the examination to secure learners' licence.
"The suspects allegedly provided fake and fabricated information on the government website www.sarthi.nic.in using their smartphones for booking the slots," said inspector Sunil Pawar, who is investigating the case.
But on the given date and time, Ashish, Dhoni, Virat and Ajinkya did not turn up at the RTO for examination.
The RTO officers realized there was something fishy when they found that the absentees had partial names of Indian cricketers. They decided to approach the police.