Surat man booked for ‘posing as CMO officer’

In her complaint, Sagathiya said that Halani, posing as police inspector Gohil, allegedly abused some Bharwads who had developed enclosures for their cattle near Gandwada Talav in Surendrangar. Later, identifying himself as one Mr Patel, APS from CMO, Halani allegedly called Deepak Meghani, the Surendranagar SP, and sought a report about the alleged encroachment.

The SP doubted the veracity of the call, purportedly from the CMO, and ordered an enquiry by Sagathiya. When Sagathiya sought his contact details, Halani gave the official email address and fax number of the CMO in Gandhinagar as his contact details. The offence was committed between June 16 and July 21, Sagathiya added.

“The accused would talk to the police officer very calmly, giving an impression of a very high-ranking officer. But when he instructed me that those accused of encroachment should be paraded in public, I suspected his antecedents and we ordered an enquiry. The enquiry revealed that he was actually one Rashmin Halani from Surat and that a mobile phone SIM card he was using to call police officers was issued in the name of a security guard in his residential society,” Meghani told The Indian Express on Sunday.