Suresh Sharma dressed in his fake army uniform at Jalukbari police station after his arrest on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

April 29: He was a decorated army officer complete with a certificate of valour from none other than the President for showing exemplary courage in the Kargil War. In full army uniform, he was used to being driven in a car.

The only hitch was that the uniform was fake, so was the certificate and the car — stolen.

Luck finally ran out with Suresh Sharma, 52, who was arrested today from Maligaon with a stolen Alto, police said. Sharma later confessed to transhipping cars across states masquerading as a senior army officer.

A fake army uniform, several certificates, including a President’s commendation certificate for bravery in the Kargil War, identity cards, army ration card and seals were seized from him.

Based on an information provided by a source, Sharma was arrested by a team of Jalukbari police station led by sub-inspectors P.K. Bora and L.M. Goala.

Sharma, who is from Shillong, was staying at a rented house at Nilachalpur, which belongs to Sambhu Nath Sarma. “A large number of fake documents related to the army were seized from him. The most interesting one is a President Award Certificate for showing exemplary courage during Operation Vijay of Kargil War in 1999,” the police officer said.

The other forged certificates found on him include an Indian Army Security Training Certificate and a Certificate for Senior Citizen Saving Scheme issued by the Army Air Defence Centre.

According to the police, he is a member of a well-organised interstate racket of car-lifters, who used to steal cars in the city and then sell the vehicles in neighbouring states like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur. Moreover, three fake identity cards showing him as a Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel were found on him.

The police have registered a case against him at Jalukbari police station and he will be produced in court tomorrow.

On the modus operandi of the gang, the police source said Sharma in the army uniform used to sit in the rear seat of the vehicle, driven by a chauffeur.

“At check posts, he identified himself as a senior army officer based in Shillong. In this manner he had been hoodwinking policemen for the past several years as the police usually do not check cars of senior army officers,” the police source said.

The accused confessed that in this manner he had transported seven stolen cars from the city to Shillong, Dimapur and Imphal.

Sharma, however, claimed that he was only involved in ferrying the cars and never stole one. He told the police that the stolen cars were given to him for transhipment by Dinesh Lama and Shanti Singh, both residents of Shillong.

The police source said Sharma had worked in a private security agency at Chennai before joining the gang of automobile thieves. “We are investigating where he had printed these fake documents and was any soldier is involved in the racket,” the source said.

In the stolen Alto, which was recovered from Sharma, a sticker was pasted where it was written “on army duty”.

“More such stickers with ‘on army duty’ and ‘on army postal duty’ were found on him,” the officer said.

According to the police, more arrests will be made.

Car-lifter held

Basistha police arrested another car-lifter identified as Md Nazrul Ali from Changsari on the city outskirts this morning.

The police said Ali, who is a driver, had stolen the truck (AS-17/3454) of his employer Abdul Kalam on April 15 from Hatigaon. During interrogation, he confessed that he sold the truck for Rs 20,000.

The police suspect that Ali, who is from Baksa district, was also involved in more cases of car thefts in the city.