25 June,2014 08:43 AM IST | | Shirish Vaktania
A traffic cop had caught the Kandivli resident for driving under influence of alcohol on Friday, and served a notice asking him to show up in court on Monday; the man sent someone else for the hearing
Borivli court
A Borivli court was in for a shock on Monday when a man produced for an offence of drink driving turned out to be an imposter. He had been sent by the actual man caught for driving under influence, who himself had run away to Uttar Pradesh. The Borivli police station registered a case and arrested the dummy accused.
The imposter Motiram Singh does odd jobs in and around the Borivli court, where he was caught impersonating accused Baldev Singh in a drink driving case.
According to the police, the incident occurred on Friday night at a nakabandi, when Vinayak Waghade, a traffic police official, stopped Baldev Singh, a biker.
"I caught Baldev Singh near Charkop market in Kandivli. When I smelled him, I confirmed that he was drunk and issued him a notice to be present in court on Monday morning," recalled Waghade.
However, Baldev Singh sent a proxy - one Motiram Singh - who works as a dealer of air conditioners and does small jobs around the court. Baldev is a resident of Kandivli (East) and Waghade immediately identified that someone else was in the dock for the offence committed by Baldev.
Police sources blame the constable for the accused slipping out of the hands of the law. "The constable should have taken the accused into custody if he was drunk. Drink driving is a crime. It is the duty of the police and traffic police to take necessary action. If the traffic police release the accused in such cases so easily, such cases will be increasingly seen in future."
Police Sub-inspector Yuvraj Inamdar of Borivli police station confirmed the incident, saying, "It (appearance of a proxy accused) happened in our jurisdiction. We arrested Motiram from the court and registered a case. Baldev Singh is at large and has fled to Uttar Pradesh."
A senior traffic cop told mid-day that if a person is caught driving drunk, police seize the vehicle and licence, and as per the situation, either arrest the accused or order him to present himself in court the next working day.
