A 26-year-old man, who has studied till class 10 and working as a tailor in a Surat-based textile unit, has been arrested for allegedly posing as an IPS officer, police said on Monday.
As per the preliminary investigation, the impersonator Mohammad Sarmaj Alam, a native of Bihar, is fond of roaming in public places in police uniform to impress people, said DCP Bhagirath Gadhavi.
Alam used to visit shops and loved to get clicked in the police uniform. He claimed to be inspired by some TV serials like Crime Patrol, he said.
Based on a specific tip that a man posing as a police officer was asking vehicles to stop on a road in Udhna area of the city, police personnel rushed to the spot and nabbed Alam, who was wearing a khaki uniform and the shoulder badges worn by IPS officers, said Gadhavi.
"Police found a toy walkie-talkie set, a pistol-shaped cigarette lighter, a badge of Andhra Pradesh Police and another police uniform from his bag. Alam is a native of Bihar and studied till class 10. He has been working as a tailor at a textile unit in Surat for the last seven years" said the DCP.
He said Alam had purchased the IPS badge from an online store.
Alam told the cops that he is fond of wearing khaki uniform to impress people and this was the first time he had put on IPS shoulder badges.
"In the past, he roamed the market wearing a police uniform but did not put IPS badges. He used to visit shops and loved to get clicked in the uniform. He claimed to be inspired by some TV serials like Crime Patrol. As of now, it appears that he had not extorted money from anyone by posing as police," said Gadhavi.
Alam has been arrested on the charges of impersonation under sections 170 and 171 of the IPC.
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