Chandigarh:
He faked his rank and uniform, drove in a stolen SUV, frequented discotheques and night clubs and did everything to impress girls. While none of this was part of his official duty, a disco-loving assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Punjab police is now cooling his heels in the lock-up.
ASI Jarnail Singh was arrested by Chandigarh police at a special checkpoint Monday night. The questioning of the cop by police revealed that he was walking on the wrong side of law.
Posted at Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake as a coach for the Punjab Police rowing team, Jarnail Singh has been booked for impersonating and wearing the uniform of an inspector illegally and driving around in a Mitsubishi Pajero sports utility vehicle (SUV) stolen from Delhi.
"He admitted during questioning that he was flaunting himself as an inspector and driving the Pajero SUV to impress girls at discotheques. He seemed quite frequent at discos, pubs and night clubs," a Chandigarh police officer told IANS.
When the fake inspector was arrested, he was driving in the stolen Pajero and was wearing the uniform of an inspector.
"When we intercepted him at a special check point, he behaved suspiciously. He could not produce his identity card but during frisking we found two I-cards," crime branch in-charge Amanjot Singh said.
One identity card was found to be genuine and the other fake. The Punjab police battalion, to which Jarnail Singh belongs, has been informed of his arrest.
As Chandigarh police got the verification of the Pajero done, it was revealed that the SUV was stolen from Delhi in March and a case had been lodged at the Lajpat Nagar police station.
Police are now investigating Jarnail Singh's involvement in car theft cases as well as allegations that he had duped youth of over Rs.1 million (10 lakh) with promises of sending them abroad.
Police officials here said Jarnail Singh, who hails from Punjab's Moga district, had even kept his wife and in-laws in the dark about his being an ASI. "He pretended to be an inspector even before them," a police official said.
In September, an inspector of the security wing of Chandigarh police was suspended from his post after he misbehaved with two young women at a popular discotheque.
The disco-loving police inspector, Jaswinder Singh, had created a ruckus at Score discotheque in Sector 8. Allegedly in a drunken state, he misbehaved with two young women after they refused to dance with him, police said.
The bouncers at the discotheque confronted the officer after the women complained. Though the discotheque management called police, the police control room delayed their response.
The officer was nailed after CCTV footage showed enough evidence of his behaviour.