Chennai: A 43-year-old driver who posed as an IPS officer was arrested in the city on Monday. The police said he was attracted by the respect received from the public and police while he acted as IPS officer.
Vivekanand Misra (43), hailing from West Bengal, was working as driver in a private hotel and was engaged in receiving and dropping guests at the airport in the hotel car.
He used ‘Police’ and ‘G’ stickers on the car and passed check-posts without any hassle, the police said. He obtained ID card designs of CBI IPS officers from the Internet and affixed his photo in the forged cards.
After his only son died last year, the family had been struggling to make ends meet. They were unable to pay EMI of Rs 20,000 for the flat they had bought in Annanur.
After he took up this ‘cop’ role to drive down the guests to airport, Vivekanand decided it was his cup of tea and handsome amount from the hotel guests as he could get them dropped in the departure gates without any trouble and on time, as security officers saluted him and his guests.
The fake cop role came to light when a traffic SI halted the car which Vivekanand was driving on the wrong side of the road.
Vivekanand dared the SI and fished out the fake ID card claiming that he was an IPS officer of Jharkhand cadre. Sensing trouble at the spot, Vivekanand managed to drive his car away and was caught subsequently.
He had forged ID cards as doctor working in AIIMS and an advocate as well. He was subsequently remanded in judicial custody.
