Kolkata, Mar 16 (IANS): A suspected juvenile was handed over to Kolkata Police by the Army for attempting to enter the Eastern Command headquarters at Fort William in the city by impersonating an officer in the rank of a Major.
It has come to light that the accused, a resident of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, has a history of committing fraud and spent several months at a juvenile home in Odisha before being released in February this year.
Around 1.10 p.m. on Friday, a chauffeur-driven BMW tried to enter Fort William through the East Gate.
When the military police personnel in charge of security there (a woman) asked the identity of the passenger, he showed her the photograph of an identity card of one Major M.S. Chauhan of 5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) on his mobile phone.
The military policewoman then asked him to fill in his details in a register (the standard norm for all visitors).
She became suspicious after he kept on checking the photograph on his mobile phone while filling in the details and informed the control room.
A flying squad reached the gate and escorted the youth to the control room where he was questioned.
After being released from the juvenile home, the accused stayed a night at the Pride Hotel in Cuttack, Odisha. He left the hotel the next day without paying his bill that amounts to Rs 6,393.
He travelled by train to Howrah without a ticket and then took a taxi to the Kolkata airport on Thursday. On the way, he called up the J.W. Marriot Hotel and asked them to send a pick-up cab to the airport.
He spent Thursday night at J W Marriot and on Friday morning asked for a BMW on hire.
He told the driver that he was an Army officer and part of the President's Bodyguard.
It was in February this year that the 1st Battalion of the 5 Gorkha Rifles took over as the President's Bodyguard at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The driver was impressed and requested the accused to use the defence quota to get his daughter enrolled at Jadavpur University. They then drove to the university but were told to get more details from Fort William where the accused was nabbed while trying to enter the premises.
While searching the room of the accused at J.W. Marriot, it did not reveal any of his personal belongings or documents.
The accused had stayed at the hotel in Cuttack using the identity card of a constable in Hyderabad Police, the Army said.
It has also been revealed that the youth used the digital payment app in his phone to cheat several high-end hotels and shops. After making payments, he would edit the same and the transactions would fail. This would happen after he left the premises.
"He claims to be 24-years-old and a BTech student. However, we have our doubts as he was released from a juvenile home recently. We have handed him over to the Maidan police station and they will take necessary action," the Defence Ministry spokesperson in Kolkata said.