Man posing as Railway board member held in Hyderabad, vehicle, fake IDs seized

Hyderabad: The Special Operations Team (SOT) of Telangana Police has arrested a 44-year-old man, who allegedly impersonated himself as a member of the South Central Railway Board and Central Film Censor Board by illegally fixing the designation boards to his vehicle. The arrest was made on Tuesday.

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Kota Venkatesh and a Bolero car, fake identity cards and voter ID cards were seized from him.

“Kota Venkatesh has been doing real estate business at the LB Nagar area in the city. Earlier, he was a Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committees (DRUCC) member only and not a board member of South Central Railway for the period from 2014 to 2016. He was nominated as a panel board member of Central Film. Sensor Board for the period from 2016 to 2018,” the police said in a statement.

“After completion of his tenure as a member of South Central Railway and member of Central Film Censor Board instead of removing the designation boards to his personal vehicles, he kept them as it is and illegally enjoying its benefits and misleading people. He also still using the ID cards and visiting cards with his expired designation in order to get respect among the public and officials, and thereby cheating the public by posing himself as Board Member of Railway and Central Film Censor Board,” it said.

The case has been registered under section 17 and 419 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act-2005 at the LB Nagar police satiation.

Venkatesh was caught at the LB Nagar check post on Tuesday.

“On June 1 at 6 pm, while the accused Kota Venkatesh was moving in his Bolero vehicle bearing No AP-11-AT-9909 on the road at SBH Colony X Road, LB Nagar without E-Pass by fixing the board as South Central Railway Board Member and Ashoka Emblem (Satyameva Jayathe) and Central Sensor Board Director, meanwhile the sleuths of SOT and LB Nagar Police apprehended him,” the police said.

“On further enquiry, he admitted his guilt into this offence. As such, the above Bolero vehicle along with other property as noted above were seized from the possession of accused under a cover of panchanama in the presence of mediators,” it said.