A Kharagpur resident was arrested on Thursday for allegedly posing as a government official and using a blue beacon-fitted vehicle in Behala.
A traffic sergeant spotted a Maruti Suzuki Ertiga with a blue beacon at the crossing of Diamond Harbour Road and Banamali Ghosal Lane in Behala on Thursday evening. A board on the car read “National Crime Information Bureau”.
“An elderly man in the vehicle claimed he was a government official, but failed to produce an ID,” said an officer.
Abhijit Chakraborty, 68, a resident of Vivekananda Pally in Kharagpur, is the owner of the beacon-fitted vehicle, police said.
Chakraborty was arrested after he was found to be fraudulently using the beacon. He was handed over to Behala police station.
There are sections in the central and state motor vehicles rules under which car owners can be prosecuted for unauthorised use of beacons, the police said.
A notification issued by the transport department a few years ago lists over a dozen categories of vehicle users entitled to use the beacon while on duty. Traffic guards in the city have been given this list.
Youth poses as cop, held
A 20-year-old hospitality management student from Canning, South 24-Parganas, who wanted to become a police officer ever since a sergeant recovered his stolen wallet, allegedly started wearing a uniform and introducing himself as an inspector in the anti-terror squad of Bengal Police.
In a bid to introduce his friend to the sergeant, who was his “inspiration”, Diptendu Bag went to Entally police station on Friday, only to be caught lying.
Bag was arrested for impersonation and cheating. “The accused could not render any satisfactory answer for why he was wearing a police uniform,” said joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata Police, Rupesh Kumar.
When the youth recalled the wallet incident, the sergeant recognised him, an officer said. “However, when Bag said he had been promoted to the post of an inspector, which raised doubts.”