NDA aspirant fools cops as ‘Navy captain’

GHAZIABAD: An 18-year-old youth who posed as an Indian Navy captain and sought favours from Ghaziabad police was arrested on Friday.
Police said the accused, Vaibhav Pandey, has been preparing for the National Defence Academy (NDA) entrance exams and staying in a rented accommodation in Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar for the past two years.
But he would visit police stations in Ghaziabad, often in Navy uniform, and pressure officials into getting favours done for acquaintances.
But he ran out of luck on Friday when he visited Indirapuram police station in Navy uniform and asked cops to act against some “rogue” neighbours of his two Ghaziabad-based friends. Smelling a rat, a police officer asked him to show his identity card.
“Instead of showing us his identity card, Vaibhav told that officer he is posted in Chilika, Odisha, and threw a file on the table. This made the officer more suspicious. When he opened the file, he found a fake Indian Navy appointment letter and NDA selection certificate,” said Aparna Gautam, circle officer of Indirapuram area.
And after a volley of questions, Vaibhav succumbed and confessed to being an imposter, police said.
“He told us that he had fooled personnel at various police stations in Ghaziabad a number of times in the past by posing as a Navy officer and got work done for his friends,” Gautam said.
During interrogation, Vaibhav told cops his father is a farmer in UP’s Fatehpur and he had purchased the Navy uniform online for Rs 3,500. “He appeared for NDA exam last year but could not succeed. After that, he started donning Navy uniform,” the circle officer said.
An FIR has been lodged at Indirapuram police station under sections 140 (wearing garb or carrying token used by soldier, sailor or airman), 420 (cheating) and 465 (forgery) of IPC. “We are checking if he had taken money from people to get their work done by fooling cops. We will look into his bank accounts,” Gautam said.
In Video:Youth posing as captain in Indian Navy arrested