Police Arrest Man Posing as Sub-Inspector Near Pandeypur

Lalpur-Pandeypur police arrested a 30-year-old man late Tuesday night after he allegedly presented forged police and press identity cards when officers asked him to shift a Scorpio that was blocking the main road near a Bata showroom in Pandeypur.

The accused was identified as Anubhav Anand Pandey, son of Pawan Kumar Pandey, resident of Pandeypur Milki, Dedhvalia, under Dhanapur police station in Chandauli. Police said he was taken into custody around 10:20 pm and later sent to jail after a case was registered.

According to the police account, Sub-Inspector Dinesh Singh was out on patrol for crime prevention when Sub-Inspector Pradyumn Rai and other personnel were managing traffic at Pandeypur crossing. They found Scorpio registration UP 67 AL 3313 standing on the carriageway near the showroom, holding up movement. When officers told the driver to move the vehicle and indicated a challan, the man first claimed to be a press reporter and showed an identity card made in the name of a Hindi daily.

Further questioning, police said, led him to claim he was a Uttar Pradesh Police sub-inspector and to produce a police identity card. The card listed his rank as sub-inspector, a date of birth of 20 October 1992, a validity date of 31 December 2043 and a PNO number. When he could not explain the PNO number to the satisfaction of the team, the interrogation tightened. He then allegedly admitted the police card was forged.

A search of the vehicle and of the man turned up two forged identity cards, a police-marked cap and uniform pieces, and four mobile phones of different makes. The second card described him as a bureau chief in Chandauli. Police said the Scorpio belonged to his cousin Pankaj Prasoon Pandey. The vehicle was seized under Section 207 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The forged cards and phones were sealed.

Officers said Pandey told them he holds an MBA, is unemployed, and prepared the fake police card on his own to dodge toll fees and police challans. The case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 204, 336 and 340(2). All descriptions of how the cards were made, how often they were used, and what advantage they gave him remain allegations under investigation. Guilt or innocence is for the court.

Pandeypur sits on a busy approach into the city, and officers on night patrol routinely check vehicles that stop across the lane. In this instance the check began as a traffic call and turned into a forgery case once the identity cards failed basic scrutiny. Station records now list the seized articles, the vehicle, and the sections invoked.

Residents who saw the Scorpio being towed away on Tuesday night will find the official version limited but specific: a roadblock, contested documents, an arrest, and a jail remand. Police have not claimed a wider network in the public briefing, and no other accused has been named in the case as registered so far.

Anyone with information about similar forged police or press cards in the Lalpur-Pandeypur belt has been asked to approach the local station. Investigators will decide whether the phones and cards point only to personal misuse or to something broader. For now the charge sheet work starts with the Tuesday night recovery and the accused's own alleged admission about why the police card was made.