NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI): A 40-year-old DMRC employee was arrested for allegedly impersonating an IAS officer and using red beacon on his personal car, police said on Friday.
The accused has been identified as Manoj Kumar Gupta, a resident of Ganga Vihar, Shahdara, they said.
On Thursday around 7 pm, a man saw a Tata Tigor car flashing red beacon light in the Shastri Nagar fruit market.
He found the vehicle suspicious as there was only one person in the car and shared the information with traffic policeman ASI Dhamendra Kumar, a senior police officer said.
When the ASI stopped the vehicle and asked the driver about his identity, he started arguing with him, following which the matter was reported to the local police.
Gupta was caught driving a car which had “Bharat Sarkar” written on its front bonnet and “Government of India and Ministry of Power and Energy” on its back, police said.
A sticker of advocate was also found pasted on the windscreen which confirmed that the man was an imposter, police said.
When Gupta was asked if he was authorised to use the red beacon, he got annoyed and in a threatening manner introduced himself as Sanjeev Kumar, IAS, posted as deputy director in the Ministry of Power & Energy. He further said that he is authorised for flashing the red beacon, police said.
The car Gupta was driving was found registered in his name, so was the driving licence found on him.
Police also found in his possession an ID card, apparently issued by the DMRC, which showed him to be employed as the head maintainer with the transporter, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said.
After that, police arrested Gupta and booked him on relevant charges.
During interrogation, Gupta revealed that he had got the beacon and other insignia to show off and create an impression on the public, the DCP said.
As the Republic Day celebrations are in full swing, unauthorised use of red beacon could lead to sabotage in security arrangements, police said.
Information about the incident was shared with intelligence agencies, special cells, etc., and a joint interrogation was conducted in the matter, they said.
According to police, Gupta had joined the DMRC in 2004.
