A youth was detained here on Tuesday for impersonating the sub-collector of Tirunelveli.
Police said that 31-year-old V. Naveen Kumar of Kochadai had been visiting the office of the village administrative officer at Kochadai for the last three days. Claiming to be a sub-collector, he said he was sent to learn the functioning of the VAO’s office.
Kochadai VAO Jayabharathi said the impostor had obtained a nativity certificate from her over a month ago after producing a ration card that showed him to be a resident of Kochadai.
“He told me at the time that the certificate was required for applying to the post of deputy collector. After that, he visited my office on Thursday (August 22) and claimed that he had been appointed as the deputy collector of Tirunelveli and had been posted for revenue training here.
“I did not seek his identity proof because I feared that might irk him if he was really a deputy collector. He sat in the office till afternoon on Thursday before coming back on Friday too. He did not make any illegal demand or indulge in any untoward behaviour but chatted with visitors,” the VAO recalled.
She did not find him in the office on Saturday, but learnt that he had showed up on Monday while she was away at the revenue divisional office.
“I informed the Tahsildar about the man’s repeated visits and he advised me to have him detained if he dropped by again,” she said.
The man was detained when he visited next and turned over to the police.
Police said he carried a fake photo identity card. His motive for impersonating a public official is not clear. Based on a complaint from Ms. Jayabharathi, the police are investigating the incident.
