Man held for impersonating a cop

The Kasturba Marg police of Borivali on Tuesday arrested a 35-year-old for pretending to be a policeman so that he could escape penalty for not wearing a helmet.

The accused, Naresh Durganna Chandragiri (35), was later produced in court on Tuesday and remanded in police custody.

According to police sources, on Sunday, traffic policewoman Sayli Bhonsle was on duty on Ray Dongri road of Borivali (east). She noticed a biker riding without a helmet and crossing the road; so she stopped him. The moment Ms Bhonsle approached Chandragiri, she noticed the logo of Mumbai police on his bike and also on the rear of the vehicle, said police sources from the Kasturba Marg station.

When Ms Bhonsle reprimanded the rider for not wearing a helmet, he became belligerent. He then started throwing his weight around, claiming that he was a policeman and that too her senior. He told her she did not have any right to question him, said police officials.

Chandragiri further told Ms Bhonsle that he was sub-inspector Uttam Kamble of the Samta Nagar police station and on his way to duty. Immediately, Ms Bhonsle verified the information from the Samta Nagar police station. She was told that there was no Uttam Kamble posted at the station; so she dragged him to the Kasturba police station and got him arrested.

Later it came to light that Chandragiri was a zero police long ago and therefore was acquainted with the mannerisms used by policemen. A zero police is one who is not in the force but helps police to investigate and track repeat offenders and also stays with the police during operations.

“He did not have the documents of his motorcycle, and when the constable told him to submit the bike, he tried to threaten her,” said a police official. Now, the police is trying to identify if the accused had extorted or threatened other people also, posing as a cop and using his skills that he acquired during his stint as a zero police.

The accused has been booked under Section 170 for impersonating a public servant, 171 for wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent and 506 for criminal intimidation of the IPC and also under the Motor Vehicle Act for failure to produce required documents of the vehicle and riding without a helmet.