A 28-year-old doctor, who was fixated with the police force but failed to pass the UPSC exam, allegedly fooled the city’s cops into believing that he was one of them. Tejas Reddy was able to keep up this masquerade for two months before getting caught on June 10.
He posed as an IPS officer of the 2014 batch. He introduced himself as the Assistant Superintendent of Davanagere and the son of a retired DG.
He not only visited many stations and police training centres, but also checked vehicles using a fake walkie-talkie as a prop.
According to sources, police personnel in many of the stations he visited offered tea and snacks mistaking him for a senior officer. He was ‘unmasked’ by an alert trainee policewoman who became suspicious of his behaviour.
How bluff was called
On June 4, Tejas visited Sampigehalli police station. After a formal reception by the staff, he asked a few personnel to accompany him to the police training academy in Thanisandra where he interacted with the trainees.
That was when his luck ran out. One of the women happens to be from Davanagere. She realised that something was amiss and alerted the faculty who in turn informed the police.
The Sampigehalli police called Davanagere control room. They were told that there is no IPS officer by the name of Tejas Reddy.
By then, Tejas realised that the police were onto him and fled to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, said an investigating officer.
A special team from Bengaluru tracked him down and arrested him on Friday.
Obsessed with khakee
After his arrest, Reddy told the police that he had always wanted to join the force.
“He would dream of wearing a police uniform and even prepared for the exam, but failed to clear it,” said a police officer, adding that the young man aspired to the respect offered to the men and women in khakee.
This obsession did not abate even after he became a doctor. “He claims to have got his degree in Ukraine. We have verified that he works as a doctor at a hospital in Chikkasandra,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (north-east division) P. S. Harsha. “We are probing whether he has cheated anyone and are verifying his claims.”
During his brief stint as an ‘IPS officer’, Tejas visited Nelamangala, Jalahalli traffic police limits, Soladevanahalli, Hebbal Traffic, K.R. Puram police stations.
He claimed to be an orphan. He is a resident of Kirloskar Layout, Hesaraghatta Main Road, Banavara.
